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General Kirby- Smith 




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General Kirby- Smith 



By 
ARTHUR HOWARD NOLL 

Author of *' Short History of Mexico," " From Empire to Republic; '' 
Editor of " Bishop Quintard's Memoirs of the War," etc. 




THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH 

SEWANEE TENNESSEE 






LIBRARY of C0N3SESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC 28 1907 

Copyrifht Entry 

CLASSA XXC. Mo. 

fq3H Sh 

COPY B. 



Copyrighted 1907 

by 

Arthur Howard Noll 

All rights reserved 



To the 

Citizens of Florida, 

and especially to the 

Confederate Veterans and Daughters 
of the Confederacy 

of that State, 

This Life of a Distinguished Floridian and 

Confederate Leader, and withal. 

Patriotic American, 

is dedicated 



Preface 



The purpose of this book is to set forth the life of 
its subject more as a man than as a military leader; 
and with that object in view, letters written by him 
at West Point, on the battlefields of the War with 
Mexico, on the Southwestern Frontier, in Virginia 
while recruiting the Armies of the Confederacy and 
while recovering from the wound received at Manas- 
sas, and from Mexico and Cuba after the fall of the 
Confederacy, have been freely drawn upon. In edit- 
ing these letters for this purpose, the present writer 
has omitted only such portions as were of local, tem- 
porary or personal interest, denoting such omissions 
where they occur in the midst of paragraphs. The 
military operations of the Kentucky Campaign and 
of the Trans-Mississippi Department are related in the 
words of papers carefully prepared by General Kirby- 
Smith for publication shortly after the close of the 
Civil War. The work is therefore chiefly autobio- 
graphical, though neither the letters nor the papers 
were written with any thought that they would be 
used for such a purpose. In his extended use of these 
materials the present writer frankly acknowledges 
that his true relation to the volume is that of editor 
rather than author, and as such he here expresses 



Preface 

his obligations to Mr. Sanderson Smith, of New 
York; to Major E. K. Webster, U. S. A., and other 
members of the family; and to the Hon. John T. 
Beard, of Florida, for valuable assistance rendered in 
the preparation of the book and in seeing it through 
the press. 

One who took the deepest interest in every detail 
of the preparation of this volume, was in the Provi- 
dence of God, not permitted to see its publication. 
Very early on Sunday morning, November 3rd, 1907, 
at Sewanee, Tennessee, Mrs. Cassie Selden Kirby- 
Smith passed from the Church Militant to the rest of 
Paradise. The following day she was laid to rest by 
the side of her distinguished husband in the Se- 
wanee cemetery. 

A. H. N. 

The University of the South, 
Sewanee, Tennessee, 
November, 1907. 



VI 



Contents 



PAGE 

Introduction i 

I. The Kirbys, the Smiths and the Kirby-Smiths 4 

II. West Point 14 

III. In the War with Mexico 24 

IV. West Point Again 62 

V. Southwestern Frontier Service ... 74 

VI. Southwestern Frontier Service: With the 

Boundary Commission 94 

VII. Southwestern Frontier Service: Scouting 

WITH THE Second Cavalry Under Lee . 112 

VIII. The Irrepressible Conflict .... 149 

IX. The Beginning of the War and the Battle 

OF Mannassas 168 

X. The Kentucky Campaign 201 

XI. In the Trans-Mississippi Department . . 223 

XII. The Surrender 257 

XIII. Expatriation 270 

XIV. At Sewanee 279 

Index 287 



General Kirby-Smith 



INTRODUCTION 

In April, 1865, when the news of the surrender of 
General Lee reached a small town in New Jersey, 
a boy of ten years, who participated in the rejoicing 
with which the news was received, was prompted to 
ask if all the Confederate Generals had surrendered, 
and if the war were actually ended. He was informed 
that there were several general officers who had not 
surrendered, and among them was mentioned General 
Kirby-Smith. This name fixed itself upon the mind 
of the boy. Listening attentively to the discussions 
he heard among his elders at the time, he learned 
something more about the Confederate General, the 
oddity of whose name had the effect of making him 
a hero in the boy's mind. He learned that this Con- 
federate General had been, since early in 1863, in su- 
preme command of what was known as the Trans- 
Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army; 
that the Department included Texas, Louisiana, Ar- 
kansas and the Indian Territory; that he had organized 
a government there and had made that government 



General Kirby- Smith 

self-supporting, so that after the collapse of the Con- 
federate Government at Richmond and the surrender 
of General Lee, fears were entertained among the 
Federal leaders, that if the person of Jefferson Davis 
were not secured, he might escape to this Trans-Mis- 
sissippi region and there cooperate with the mili- 
tary commander in maintaining a Confederacy, rather 
more contracted than the other, yet likely to hold out 
for some time longer. And secretly the boy hoped that 
this might be; — not from any feeling of disloyalty to 
the Union, but probably because he thought it would 
add interest to the history that was then making itself. 
This hope was indulged in secret, although in all the 
discussions of public affairs to which the boy listened 
at the time, he was much impressed by the modera- 
tion with which the leaders of the then crumbling 
Confederacy were always referred to, and the absence 
of all personal bitterness, even in the midst of the re- 
joicing over the surrender which brought the war to 
a close. 

Twenty years later, the New Jersey boy came to 
the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, 
and among the first persons he met there, was Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith, looking very much like the war- 
time engraved portraits of him, save that his long 
beard was snowy white instead of jet black; his head 
more bald ; and instead of the gray uniform of a Con- 
federate General, he was most frequently seen in 



General Kirby- Smith 

scholastic cap and gown. In the personal acquaint- 
ance which followed the first meeting, the New Jersey 
boy learned to know General Kirby-Smith, not only as 
the Confederate General who was the last to surrender, 
but also as one who had borne a distinguished part 
in the war with Mexico and had subsequently had 
a long and interesting career on the Southwest- 
ern frontier in a region with which the New Jer- 
sey boy had become familiar. But most of all he 
came to know him as a scholar and a Christian gentle- 
man — a representative of a class of which the Con- 
federate Army was largely composed; and the ac- 
quaintance became sufficiently close to justify the 
Yankee boy's undertaking, at the close of another 
twenty years, to write a life of this hero of his boy- 
hood and to show the world who he really was. 

To this task he has been drawn by coming into 
close touch with the General's life and by having his 
character more deeply impressed upon him in two 
previous literary ventures, notably in editing the 
Memoirs of the Right Reverend Dr. Quintard, Second 
Bishop of Tennessee. In those Memoirs,' General 
Kirby-Smith appears in a light which confirms the 
opinion already formed that his life is of interest not 
only to the survivors of the late Confederacy and to 
Southern people generally, but to all Americans, as 
of the highest type of American citizen. 



CHAPTER I 

THE KIRBYS, THE SMITHS AND THE 
KIRBY-SMITHS 

It was by one of the accidents of history that Ed- 
mund Kirby Smith was by birth a Southerner and 
not a native of the State of Connecticut. All his for- 
bears for several generations were from that New 
England State or from Massachusetts, and most of 
them were prominent in the history of New England. 
Notable among them was Ephraim Kirby, a native of 
Litchfield, Connecticut, who joined the Revolutionary 
Army at the age of eighteen, before the battle of Bun- 
ker Hill, and served throughout the war of the Rev- 
olution, participating in nineteen engagements, re- 
ceiving eighteen wounds and surviving after being 
left for dead on the field at Germantown. He rose to 
the rank of Colonel before the close of the war, in 

1783- 

It was to the town of Litchfield that the fragments 
of the leaden statue of George III, previously stand- 
ing in Bowling Green, New York City, were sent, 
when that statue was torn down and broken up by the 
Sons of Liberty, upon receiving the news of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, in 1776. They were there 



General Kirby- Smith 

given to the patriotic ladies of the town to be con- 
verted into bullets for the use of the soldiers who were 
fighting for the independence of the colonies. The 
number of bullets thus made is given as 37,775; and 
of these, 17,592 were made by Mrs. Reynold Marvin, 
the wife of ** Deacon" Reynold Marvin, and her 
dai^ghter Ruth. 

After the war, Colonel Ephraim Kirby returned 
to Litchfield, applied himself to securing an educa- 
tion, was for a short time a student at Yale College, 
and received from that college, in 1787, the honorary 
degree of Master of Arts. He studied law with Cap- 
tain (''Deacon") Reynold Marvin and was admitted 
to the bar. In 1789, he published "Reports of the 
Decisions of the Superior Court and Court of Errors," 
the first volume of law reports issued in the State 
of Connecticut, and probably the first in the United 
States. He was a member of the Society of the Cin- 
cinnati ; was for thirteen years a member of the State 
Legislature, and was several times an unsuccessful 
candidate for the Governorship of Connecticut. In 
1801, he was appointed by President Jefferson Super- 
visor of United States Revenue for the State of Con- 
necticut. On the acquisition of Louisiana by the 
United States, he was made a judge of the newly ac- 
quired territory and died at Fort Stoddard, Missis- 
sippi, on the 2nd of October, 1804, while on his way 
to enter upon the duties of his office. 

5 



General Kirby- Smith 

This, however, is not so interesting to us at pre- 
sent as the fact, that some time prior to 1790, Colonel 
Ephraim Kirby married Ruth Marvin, daughter of 
his law preceptor, and had by her two sons, who be- 
came soldiers in the War of 1812: Reynold Marvin 
Kirby and Edmund Kirby (the latter serving his 
country also in the war with Mexico); and a daughter, 
Frances Marvin Kirby. Some time prior to 1807, 
Frances Marvin Kirby married Joseph Lee Smith, a 
native of New Britain, Connecticut, whose father, 
Elnathan Smith, had been an officer in the French 
and Indian War and a Major in the Commissary De- 
partment in the Revolution, and whose mother was 
the daughter of Colonel Isaac Lee, grandson of the 
first settler in the town of Farmington, Connecticut. 
Joseph Lee Smith was educated at Yale College, 
studied law and was practicing his profession when 
the War of 1812 began. He was appointed Major in 
the Twenty-fifth Infantry, participated in the inva- 
sion of Canada, was promoted Lieutenant Colonel and 
brevetted Colonel for bravery at the battle of Stony 
Creek in June, 1813, and became Colonel in 1818, but 
resigned from the army that year. In 1821, being ap- 
pointed Judge of the Superior Court of Florida by 
President Monroe, he removed to that Territory. He 
fixed his residence at St. Augustine, and there a son 
was born to him on the i6th of May, 1824, who, though 
descended on both sides from Connecticut people, 

6 



General Kirby- Smith 

was a native Southerner. To this son the baptismal 
name of Edmund Kirby was given/ 
/^\ Florida at the time of Judge Smith's residence 
there presented all the conditions of frontier life. 
Twenty years after removing there, the Judge wrote 
of St. Augustine as being ''out of the world." It 

^ The Judge had given to each of his older children the name 
of his wife's family and so prepared the way for the change of 
the surname Smith to Kirby-Smith in his branch of the family. 
Throughout his boyhood and until after the war with Mexico, 
the subject of this biography signed his name either E. K. Smith, 
or Edmund K. Smith, while his elder brother, Ephraim Kirby 
Smith, was known as Kirby Smith. After the Mexican War, in 
which the elder brother lost his life, Edmund began to use his 
middle name, possibly out of a tender regard for his brother's 
memory, though more probably to distinguish himself from the 
several Smiths who won distinction in that war. The widow 
of Ephraim Kirby Smith objected to this appropriation of the 
name and thought that the name Kirby-Smith should be the ex- 
clusive possession of her late husband and of her son, Joseph 
Lee Kirby Smith, of whom we shall see more later. Edmund 
was not generally known as Kirby-Smith until near the begin- 
ning of the Civil War. Throughout that war he was known as 
General E. Kirby Smith, the Kirby being regarded as a given 
name and as no part of his surname. He was mentioned in all 
official reports as one of the innumerable Smiths. In the midst 
of the struggle the question of the use of the name arose, and 
some one wrote to the Northern papers somewhat resentfully of 
the *' assumption " by the General of the name of " Kirby Smith," 
which it was claimed belonged properly to the family of Eph- 
raim Kirby Smith. In the naming of his own eleven children, 
General Kirby-Smith effectually carried out his father's evident 
intention and the family name is now Kirby-Smith. 

7 



General Kirby- Smith 

was a town having a population of from i,6oo to 1,700 
and was frequently visited by epidemics of sickness. 
In one of them there were 1,200 sick and nearly all 
of the officers of the garrison were carried off. On 
another occasion (1839), nearly half the population 
was * 'afflicted with a severe malignant bilious fever, 
almost yellow fever, and there were many deaths." 
The Judge mentions in a later letter the prevalence of 
"grippe." From 1835 to 1843, the Seminole War was 
in progress, and the lives of the residents of the terri- 
tory were in constant peril. The Judge wrote in 1841 : 

"I have at this time a slight fever occasioned by my 
recent exposures to the hot sun and miasmas of this 
country. Our war is not yet entirely ended. We 
have been faithless and treacherous to the Indians 
Recently, Wild-Cat Coacoochee was, while on a visit 
and with a pass from the Commanding General, taken 
prisoner and sent west of the Mississippi River. The 
Indians understand these violations of moral obliga- 
tions and of national faith, as well as we understand 
them, and will never trust us. We have now to hunt 
them down to the last man before we can be safe." 

A few weeks later, the Judge related an incident 
illustrative of the conditions of life in Florida at that 
time: 

"In this Indian country such things as I am about 
8 



General Kirby- Smith 

to relate are daily happening to others, exciting no 
comment. On my return from court held some time 
ago in Alachua, at the village of Newmansville, about 
a hundred miles in the interior and near to that por- 
tion of the Territory from which the savage enemy 
has never been driven ; proceeding by myself (having 
been detained by business so that I could not accom- 
pany the military escort provided for the court), and 
having progressed on my way from Newmansville 
about ten miles, I perceived at the moment of cross- 
ing the brow of a hill, three Indians on my right at 
about half rifle distance. My first impulse was to 
wheel about and return to Newmansville ; but to re- 
turn, having begun a homeward journey, is always 
irksome to me, and I determined to keep on toward 
home if possible. With this in view, I wheeled 
about toward the brow of the hill which I had just 
passed, but with great noise and flourish, beckoning 
with my hat in hand, and making signals as if to per- 
sons behind me to hasten on. Then suddenly wheel- 
ing again toward the Indians, I dashed at them as if 
intending with my pretended party to overwhelm 
them. When lo, as I hoped, they took rapid flight 
to a near swamp, leaving me to gallop unmolested 
to the next settlement, twenty miles from Newmans- 
ville, which is garrisoned and stockaded, and where I 
remained until the next day, when I resumed my 
lonely but safe ride to St. Augustine. 



General Kirby- Smith 

*'On the very day I left Newmansville at twelve 
o'clock, just at evening, these three Indians appeared 
there, attacked and burned a house upon the out- 
skirts of the village, killed one of its occupants and 
then disappeared without scathe to themselves, which 
is according to the custom of the country." 

With the political situation in Florida the Judge 
seemed far from pleased. Writing about some landed 
interests there after the admission of Florida to the 
Union as a State, he said: "Everything here is ex- 
tremely dull. Vicious and interested men, that they 
might obtain office, hurried us into State government 
while we were vastly deficient in population and even 
more so in the means to support such government." 

Young Edmund Kirby Smith seems not to have 
seen much of these conditions of life. After he had 
grown to manhood he deplored that he had been de- 
prived, since the age of twelve, of the influences of 
home life with father, mother and sister. Judge 
Smith wrote in 1845, that he had not seen his son 
save for five or six hours at a time, for nine years. 
The fact is, that despite General Kirby-Smith's later 
pride in the State which he claimed as his native 
State, the crude condition of society therein, and the 
unhealthiness of the climate made it undesirable as a 
place of residence for a family; and the family of 
Judge Smith was much scattered. A son, Ephraim 

10 



General Kirby- Smith 

Kirby Smith, had graduated from West Point at the 
age of nineteen, two years after the birth of Edmund. 
A daughter was married to Captain Webster of the 
United States Army and was living any where but in 
Florida. And Mrs. Smith was of necessity, visiting 
much of the time in Connecticut, with her son on 
the Northern frontier or with her daughter, wherever 
she might be. 

Not only was Edmund Kirby Smith's ancestry on 
both sides of ''fighting stock," but all his family con- 
nections were of the army. Edmund's predilections 
for the army and his aspirations for distinction in his 
chosen career, were manifested early and amounted 
almost to a passion. He was accordingly placed, in 
1836, in the Alexandria Boarding School, of which 
Benjamin Hallowell was principal, and where the cur- 
riculum had admittance to the Military Academy at 
West Point especially in view. Alexandria was then 
described as in the District of Columbia. Some of 
the young man's reports while at this school are pre- 
served, and show him to have made good marks in 
Mathematics, English Grammar, Latin, French, His- 
tory, Physics, Chemistry and Drawing. In 1838, he 
took up the study of Botany, without giving up the 
interest he had previously taken in Mineralogy. Thus 
early did he begin the cultivation of his taste for 
natural science which lasted to the end of his life. 

The long separation of young Edmund Kirby 

1 1 



General Kirby-Smith 

Smith from his home and from the members of his 
family resulted in a correspondence which has been 
carefully preserved apparently without the loss of any 
important letter. The letters upon examination prove 
worthy of preservation, and are the chief reliance of 
the present writer in the preparation of this book. 
The letters of Judge Smith are filled with whole- 
some advice and might serve as models to be followed 
by a father writing to his son in these days. They 
are all the more remarkable in view of the meager 
facilities for correspondence in the early times. It 
was before the use of envelopes became general, 
and the amount paid for postage was indicated — 
eighteen, twenty-five or fifty cents as the case might 
be — not by postage stamps, but in the indorsement 
of the postmaster. The letters of the subject of this 
biography to his mother are thorougly self-revealing, 
the more so because written with no thought of their 
being preserved or read by any other person than her 
to whom they were addressed. They show, among 
other things, a deep religious tone, and that in the 
early youth of Edmund Kirby Smith was laid the 
foundation of that strong Christian character which 
was very marked in his later years; which placed 
him with Lee and ** Stonewall" Jackson among the 
men of approved religious character to whom, as has 
been noted elsewhere,^ the government of the Confed- 

^ Bishop Quintard's Memoirs of the War, page i. 
12 



General Kirby- Smith 

erate States, as it came into existence, committed the 
leadership of its armies; which enabled hirn to bear 
up under the adversity which later came upon him, 
and, setting aside flattering offers of worldly gain, 
to devote himself in his latter years to the education 
of youth. At the age of twenty-five he writes of the 
gratification it gave hirn to reflect that, not only him- 
self, but nearly all of his relatives were communi- 
cants of the ''Catholic, Apostolic Church." A few 
years later he entertained serious thoughts of resign- 
ing from the army in order that he might enter the 
ministry of the church. Just before the beginning 
of the Civil War, he expressed envy of the career of a 
frontier missionary. And after the Civil War he 
gave further consideration to the claims which he felt 
the ministry had upon him. All this while he took 
pleasure in the fulfillment of his religious obligations, 
and not infrequently served his church as lay reader. 
Throughout his career he made religion the founda- 
tion of his daily life, and without being ostentatious 
in his religious conduct, and without a trace of fanat- 
icism, he was faithful in the discharge of every relig- 
ious duty and proved himself a noble specimen of the 
Christian soldier. 



13 



CHAPTER II 
WEST POINT 

The zealous efforts of his relations secured for young 
Edmund Kirby Smith, in 1841, an appointment to 
the United States Military Academy at West Point, 
and at the age of seventeen, a new life opened before 
him. Captain Webster, his brother-in-law, who had 
spent ten years of his life at West Point, seems to 
have had considerable influence with the authorities, 
and was helpful to the young man in many ways. He 
had long before begun to interest himself in the young 
man's preparation for the Academy. When finally 
entered, Edmund appears to have been happy in his 
work for a time. He acquired from his fellow cadets 
the nick-name of ''Seminole" (pronounced in four 
syllables and with accent on the penult), derived in 
some way from his native territory. 

Of the cadets at West Point during the years 
1841 to 1845, nearly all were destined to participate 
within a few years in a war with Mexico; and many 
were to attain to prominence in the history of the 
country and to high rank in one army or the other 
engaged in the great civil war of 1861-65. The 
class of 1842, the first class which Edmund Kirby 

14 



General Kirby- Smith 

Smith saw graduated, numbered fifty-six and fur- 
nished twelve general officers for the Federal Army 
and eight for the Confederate Army in that great 
struggle. Included among the former were Pope, 
Rosecrans, Doubleday, John Newton and Gustavus 
W. Smith. Among the latter were Longstreet, Van 
Dorn, A. P. Stewart, Eustis, and Mansfield Lovell. 
The class of 1843 included Ulysses S. Grant, W. B. 
Franklin, C. C. Augur, and others who subsequently 
became general officers. The class of 1844 included 
Hancock and Pleasanton. The class of 1846 was 
the largest that had ever left the Academy up to 
that time, numbering seventy members, among whom 
were such men as George B. McClellan, Stoneman, 
"Stonewall" Jackson, A. P. Hill, Pickett, Maury, 
W. D. Smith and others who rose to special distinc- 
tion in the army. With many of these. Cadet Ed- 
mund Kirby Smith must have been acquainted as well 
as with the class of 1847. With some of them, indeed, 
he formed friendships which lasted through life and 
were not permanently impaired by the Civil War. 
George W. Morgan, who entered the Academy at the 
same time with Edmund Kirby Smith and left two 
years later, was in command of the Federal forces 
opposed to General Kirby-Smith at Cumberland Gap 
in 1862. Yet so close was their friendship that 
Morgan sought occasion to send some presents 
through the lines to the Confederate General. 

15 



General Kirby- Smith 

Acquaintance was formed with other men des- 
tined to distinction in the Civil War. Gustavus W. 
Smith was Assistant Professor of Engineering in the 
Academy from 1844 to 1846; A. P. Stewart became 
Acting Professor of Mathematics; and Horatio G. 
Wright, who graduated second in the class of 1841, 
was Assistant Professor of French. Mansfield Lovell 
married the daughter of Colonel Plympton, a Flor- 
ida friend of the Smith family. Lieutenant Joseph 
Hooker, of the same regiment as Lieutenant Webster, 
was appointed Adjutant at West Point in 1841, and 
not only carried certain things from Mrs. Webster to 
her brother, but promised to take an interest in the 
young cadet. He was on duty at West Point but a 
short time, however, and was succeeded as Adjutant 
by Lieutenant Irwin McDowell, who was Assistant 
Instructor of Infantry Tactics from 1841 to 1845, and 
was thus intimately related to all the cadets. 

There could scarcely have been any four years in 
the history of West Point in which more men des- 
tined to become distinguished in the military his- 
tory of our country were gathered together there than 
the four years in which young Edmund Kirby Smith 
was a cadet. Of course he failed to realize the value 
of the acquaintances he was then making, and that 
he and they were to become famous in a great civil 
strife that was to take place twenty years later, and 
that many of them were to be engaged as his enemies 

16 



General Kirby- Smith 

in that strife. Only to two of them does he make 
special reference. In his last year (1845), he refers 
to his roommates at No. — , North Barracks. They 
were William Farrar Smith and Howard; the latter 
"a. Mississippian, full of pistols and bowie knives, 
but now tempered down, by the cooling effects of 
a northern climate, to quite a gentle and rational 
being; — black hair and eyes that looked through 
and through a person, and in his ^oia ensemble quite 
a handsome young man." Of this Howard we hear 
but little more, save that he was in General Lee's staff 
at Winchester. But of William Farrar Smith, nick- 
named in his cadet days ''Baldy," and thus known 
throughout his career of distinction in the army, and 
especially in the Federal service in the Civil War, 
Edmund Kirby Smith was a warm friend for life. He 
described him then as "a Yankee by birth, but as fine 
a fellow as ever graced a 'short tail.' " 

The letters from West Point do not add much to 
our knowledge of Edmund Kirby Smith. Those that 
are preserved are principally written in his third and 
fourth years. He usually refers to himself as a 
**short tail," that being the designation of a cadet 
derived from the style of his uniform. He writes of 
himself to his mother as an ''anchorite," and some- 
times experiences seasons of ill-health and of depres- 
sion and declares that he has been two or three times 
on the point of resigning, and has only been deterred 

3 17 



General Kirby- Smith 

by the desire to gratify his parents and obtain a di- 
ploma. His health, however, returns and he begins to 
watch ''the few months glide by" that mark his de- 
tention "as an unwilling prisoner at the Academy." 
He spent the summer holidays of 1843 with his 
brother, Captain Ephraim Kirby Smith, who wrote 
of him: 

"Edmund is about my height, will be a much 
larger man and is very like his father in the face. 
He is a noble young gentleman — aimiable, well-man- 
nered and intellectual. His standing in his class is 
very respectable, and his classmates say, were it not 
for his indolence and carelessness, he might be at 
the head. He has promised me that for the future he 
will be studious and exert himself to avoid reports 
for neglect or demerits. If he does, he cannot fail to 
be one of the five first next year and will undoubtedly 
graduate near the head of his class," 

Some of the young cadet's letters contain a little 
West Point gossip, as that written in the fall of 
1843: 

"Mrs. Scott and her daughters have been creating 
quite an excitement here this encampment. Camilla, 
Cornelia and Ella carry the day here at present. 
If I were the old General, I should be dreadfully 

18 



General Kirby-Smith 

jealous. Mrs. Scott holds her levee to forty or fifty- 
cadets at Kosciusko's, gives them parties, sends them 
fruit, cake, etc., daily, and never seems at ease till 
she gets a crowd of cadets (her heart's corps as she 
calls them) around her. She is very much liked and 
would make quite a popular Superintendent. From 
the length of time she has been here and her apparent 
aversion to leaving, I suspect she is partly inclined to 
supersede Major Delafield in the regal chair of ty- 
ranny." 

In one of his letters about this time he offers to ab- 
stain from all intoxicating liquors and from playing 
cards, if his father requests it. In replying to the 
letter the father expresses surprise at the offer, as he 
had always supposed that the use of liquors and 
cards had been prohibited among the cadets. He 
most earnestly requests the pledge of his son, and 
there is nothing to indicate that the son was ever 
guilty of breaking his pledge, or in fact of his having 
been addicted at any time to the use of either cards 
or liquor. The presumption is that he made the 
offer to his father for his own protection. 

Young Edmund Kirby Smith was the twelfth in 
his class in 1843, but in the early months of the fol- 
lowing year he fell to the fifty-fifth and was charged 
with an enormous number of demerits. This caused 
his father much anxiety and the paternal letters are 

19 



General Kirby- Smith 

filled with expostulations and advice. And as the 
time for graduation approaches the anxiety extends 
to the other members of the family. All hope of the 
young man's graduating among the first five in his 
class is abandoned. At the head of the class of forty- 
five cadets stood William Henry Chase Whiting, a 
friend of Edmund Kirby Smith for many years. Other 
members of the class, besides the subject of this bio- 
graphy, who attained to prominence in the history 
of our country within the next few years, were Charles 
P. Stone, Fitz-John Porter, Thomas John Wood, 
David Allen Russell, T. G. Rhett, Gordon Granger, 
Bartow Bee and William Farrar Smith. Another 
member of the class was Jenifer, who had been a 
fellow-student at the school of Benjamin Hallowell 
at Alexandria, and who was subsequently associated 
with Edmund Kirby Smith in the service on the 
frontier; was the inventor of the celebrated saddle 
which bears his name, and was a general officer in 
the Confederate Army. 

Trouble arose. Edmund Kirby Smith was at first 
refused his commission because of failure before the 
Medical Board of Examiners. This Board found him 
perfect except as to ''his vision, which was tested in 
various ways and found so defective as to compel the 
Board to report unfavorably." ''In the unanimous 
opinion of this Board," the report read, "Cadet E. K. 
Smith, in consequence of defective vision, being my- 

20 



General Kirby-Smith 

opic or near-sighted to a great degree, does not 'pos- 
sess the requisite physical ability to serve the country 
in the arduous and laborious station of a military 
officer.' " The young cadet did not give up, however. 
At his request, the Academy Surgeon certified that 
at no time while at the Academy had the cadet com- 
plained of any defective vision nor was he ever excused 
from any of his duties therefor. The Commandant 
certified that the cadet had frequently had the com- 
mand of a company in the batallion of cadets and 
that he, the Commandant, had never perceived any 
failure on the part of the cadet to perform his duty, 
either from defective vision or from any other cause. 
The cadet had often commanded the guard and had 
always performed his duty satisfactorily. The Com- 
mandant would never have known from the manner 
in which Cadet E. K. Smith performed his duty that 
he was defective in vision. The instructor in sword 
exercise and the instructor in riding gave similar 
certificates, and two members of the Examining Board 
finally gave certificates which secured, after a time, 
the desired commission. But Edmund Kirby Smith 
wore spectacles from that time to the day of his death. 
With the effective certificate came the assurance that 
Cadet E. K. Smith was "a general favorite with all 
who knew him." He was, indeed, ever a lovable 
character, and to this fact, testimony is added at 
every stage of his career. 

21 



General Kirby- Smith 

Mingled with the letters of condolence which he 
received while it was supposed that his commission 
was an impossibility, were expressions of relief that 
he had been spared army life. His brother Ephraim 
Kirby Smith wrote that he was not sure but that 
the failure to get his commission was the best thing 
that could happen to him. 'The army in our coun- 
try," wrote the elder brother, ''is certainly not a 
desirable profession for any young man who has ability 
and perseverance to succeed in any other. With your 
talents and education, a few years of industry will 
most certainly place you in a position far in advance 
of your classmates, who will lead the enervating and 
indolent lives of subalterns, and I by no means desire 
that my sons should ever wear a sword. I would cer- 
tainly prefer that they become honest, industrious me- 
chanics. So, my dear brother, be not cast down. You 
can get a better profession than the one I fear you 
have lost." And his sister writes in much the same 
strain, and urges her brother to take up the profes- 
sion of Medicine. It is perhaps strange that she 
did not suggest his giving his attention to Art, for he 
was exceedingly clever with his pencil and his sister 
appreciated his talent in that direction sufficiently to 
beg in every letter that she wrote, that he would pre- 
serve all his drawings for her. 

But the delayed commission came at last, and 
Brevet Second Lieutenant Edmund Kirby Smith left 

22 



General Kirby- Smith 

West Point at the age of twenty-one. Being given 
the choice of the arm of the service in which he 
would serve, he selected the Infantry. This was a 
serious disappointment to his sister, Mrs. Webster, 
who desired him to select the Artillery so that he 
might be stationed near her. His father had hopes that 
in the infantry he might be sent to St. Augustine. 
He was, however, attached to the Fifth Infantry, 
the regiment of his brother, and with that regiment 
he entered upon the routine of garrison life. The 
regiment was then at Detroit, but with the prospect 
of being ordered to Fort Wilkins, on Lake Superior, 
''unless a declaration of war with Mexico prevented." 



23 



CHAPTER III 

IN THE WAR WITH MEXICO 

Matters of national importance were happening at 
the time of Lieutenant Edmund Kirby Smith's en- 
trance upon army life. In the presidential campaign 
of 1844, the leading issue had been the annexation of 
Texas, and James K. Polk had been elected President 
upon that issue. Before his inauguration Texas was 
annexed and a few months later was admitted to 
the Union as a State. The United States there- 
upon became party to a dispute with Mexico over 
the boundary of the annexed territory. Mexico 
claimed that the Nueces River constituted the west 
boundary of Texas while the United States main- 
tained, as Texas had claimed, that the Rio Grande 
was the proper boundary. President Polk ordered 
General Zachary Taylor to take possession of the 
disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio 
Grande, and the General took up his position oppo- 
site Matamoras near the mouth of the Rio Grande, 
thus establishing a blockade. In April, 1846, the 
Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande and attacked some 
Americans. On the 8th of May, Taylor defeated a 
force at Palo Alto, followed the same to Resaca 

24 



General Kirby- Smith 

de la Palma and again defeated it. Following the 
Mexicans as they continued their retreat to the 
southern side of the Rio Grande, Taylor took posses- 
sion of Matamoras. War was not declared until the 
13th of May. On the 24th of September, Monterey 
was surrendered by the Mexicans after [four days of 
hard fighting, and on the 23rd of February, 1847, 
the battle of Buena Vista was fought and a most suc- 
cessful campaign was brought to a close. 

Meanwhile many of Taylor's troops had been trans- 
ferred to the army of General Winfield Scott, which 
was to invade Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. On the 
27th of March, 1847, Scott carried the strongest fort 
in Mexico (San Juan de Ulua), and the City of Vera 
Cruz; and advancing toward the capital, fought the 
battle of Cerro Gordo on the i8th of April. In 
August, the battles of Contreras, Churubusco and San 
Antonio were fought. On the 13th of September, 
the battle of Molino del Rey was fought and the fort- 
ress of Chapultepec was carried. The American 
army entered the City of Mexico the following day, 
and after two days of fighting were in complete pos- 
session of the Mexican capital and ready to dictate 
terms of peace. 

Of those mentioned in the previous chapter as 
graduating from West Point in the years 1 841-1846, 
nearly all received their ''baptism of fire" in this 
"armed invasion," and "military parade" into Mex- 

25 



General Kirby- Smith 

ico. And as an officer, at first in the Fifth Infantry 
and afterwards in the Seventh Infantry, Lieutenant 
Edmund Kirby Smith was a participant in the cam- 
paigns of General Taylor and General Scott, succes- 
sively. His brother, Captain Ephraim Kirby Smith, 
was also with the armies until mortally wounded at 
Molino del Rey. Their maternal uncle, Edmund 
Kirby, was first on the staff of General Taylor and 
afterwards on that of General Scott. Captain Webster 
was a participant in the campaign of General Taylor. 
Letters still preserved present vivid pictures of the 
scenes of the two campaigns. Those of Edmund 
Kirby Smith are written with all the fire and enthu- 
siasm of a very young soldier. From Corpus Christi 
he writes to his mother on the 6th of March, 1846: 

''We are on the eve of a march to the Mexican 
frontier, and three weeks will see our tents glisten- 
ing along the banks of the Rio Grande, or our bones 
whitening on the plains which separate us from that 
famed river of the South. The prospect of active 
service has worked a great change in our little host. 
All is now bustle and excitement. The eyes of the 
most listless sparkle with the mention of the Mexica- 
?tOy and our anxiety to move increases. Such sharp- 
ening of swords, repairing of firearms, such a demand 
for revolvers and bowie knives, Corpus Christi never 
saw. The dragoons were marched down to the Quar- 

26 



General Kirby-Smith 

termaster's and were occupied some time in grinding 
and sharpening their sabres. All betokens a speedy 
move and a decided expectation of a brush with the 
Mexicans ere we reach Matamoras. 

"A train of wagons under Major Graham with a 
strong escort left five days since to establish a depot, 
fifty miles hence, on the route. Yesterday three 
runners came reporting the position of a regiment 
of one thousand men at the junction of the Matamoras 
and the Laredo trails, twenty miles beyond Graham's 
depot, and that five thousand troops were preparing 
to cross the Rio Grande. General Taylor places no 
reliance on these statements and thinks our etablish- 
ment on the Rio del Norte will take place without 
opposition. We are completely in the dark as to 
what the next month may bring forth and ignorant of 
the force, intention and position of the Mexican 
troops ; though our camp has been constantly full of 
their spies and they are not only acquainted with our 
strength and intention but know the names of our 
officers and even the very gossip of the camp. 

"We are all prepared for the march, and can bring 
twenty-six hundred effective men into the field. The 
order of march has been published. The army will 
move in four columns with an interval of a day's 
march between them. The Second Dragoons with 
Ringgold's Artillery leave day after to-morrow, con- 
stituting the first column. Worth's Brigade and 

27 



General Kirby-Smith 

Duncan's Company, the second; Mcintosh's Brigade, 
the third; Colonel Whistler's Brigade and a company 
of artillery, the fourth. 

'*! returned about the first of last month from a ten 
days' hunt up the Nueces River. We went at least 
thirty miles up the stream, saw myriads of game. 
The deer herd in thousands on the prairie. The 
woods are full of turkey, tigers, etc. The day after 
my return I was taken with a violent attack of bil- 
ious fever. It was a narrow escape that time, but I 
am now quite well and am rapidly recovering my 
strength. This is the third bilious attack I have had 
— two attacks of fever and one of jaundice. The cli- 
mate, however, is really delightful ; nor are we entirely 
out of the world at Corpus Christi. Two theatres, a 
morning paper and a line of boats to New Orleans are 
luxuries not to be despised. We will leave quite a 
pleasant station (for Texas) at Corpus Christi, and I 
feel quite loth to give up the luxuries and comforts 
we have been so long collecting around us, even for 
the fandangos and black-eyed senoritas of Matamoras. 

**In regard to the relative merits of the Infantry 
and the Artillery, every day increases the conviction 
that my choice has been a good one. There have al- 
ready been some sixteen or eighteen promotions since 
last June. My classmates of the Artillery are almost 
unanimously of the same opinion and there is scarcely 
one who would not willingly transfer to the Infantry." 



General Kirby-Smith 

From the Camp opposite Matamoras, on the day 
that war was actually declared (May 13th, 1846), the 
battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma having 
been fought, writing to his mother, he describes the 
scenes through which he had passed: 

''I have only time to write a few lines informing 
you of our having passed through the fiery ordeal un- 
scathed, and to give you a partial account of the most 
bloody and unparalleled victories in the annals of our 
country. Having partially completed our fort (a 
field work with six bastions), Major Brown, with 
the Seventh Regiment and two companies of artil- 
lery, was left in command. Two batteries of four 
pieces each (four eighteen-pound and four sixteen- 
pound) comprised its armament. On the after- 
noon of the 1st of May we bade adieu to our com- 
rades of the Seventh and marched off, two thousand 
strong, for Point Isabel, distant thirty miles. Our 
scouts had reported a large force, estimated at near 
ten thousand, drawn up to oppose us. We continued 
our march till ten o'clock on the morning of the 2nd, 
when we encamped eight miles from Isabel, having 
passed the enemy's encampment in the night. We 
remained four days at the point, loading our teams 
and preparing for the return, hourly encouraged in 
our determination to cut our way through, by the dull 
heavy booming sound of our eighteen-pounder, which 

29 



General Kirby-Sniith 

loudly proclaimed that our flag still proudly waved 
where our gallant comrades had placed it. On the 
7th, we struck our tents and, encumbered with a 
heavy train, marched for Matamoras. 

"On the afternoon of the 8th, we encountered the ad- 
vance guard of the enemy, and found them drawn up in 
a strong position, having their rear and flanks strongly 
protected by dense chaparral, and an open prairie, cov- 
ered with tall thick grass in their front. Our column 
was halted, the train parked, and we advanced slowly 
and deliberately in order of battle over the prairie to 
the attack. We continued the advance under a heavy 
cannonade from their line of eleven pieces ; halted as 
soon as we were near enough, unlimbered and opened 
upon them from Duncan's and Ringgold's batteries, 
and from two eighteen-pounders which we were tak- 
ing up to the fort. After half an hour's cannonade, 
our regiment, which formed the extreme right, re- 
ceived orders to advance. A large body of cavalry 
with two pieces of artillery moved from their left at 
the same time, and at a half mile from our line, among 
some scattered bushes, the cavalry, upwards of five 
hundred strong, charged. We promptly formed a 
square, received their fire at thirty paces, and with 
perfect coolness returned it from the front attacked, 
emptying upwards of forty saddles, and throwing 
them into utter confusion ; two of Ringgold's pieces 
coming up at this moment, delivered their fire with 

30 



General Kirby-Smith 

great effect, annihilating their battery as it was open- 
ing upon our square and sweeping down numbers of 
their cavalry as they fled. Night put an end to their 
action and the battle -of Palo Alto, lasting from three 
to half past seven o'clock, was ended by our brave 
troops sleeping on the field of battle. 

*'The Mexicans acknowledge a loss of five hundred, 
and one piece disabled. General Arista, the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, was wounded and several ofificers of 
rank were killed. Major Ringgold was killed. Cap- 
tain John Page had his face shot away and several 
subalterns were slightly wounded, Lieutenant Waller 
among the number. About eight of our men were 
killed and forty wounded. 

"We began our advance the next day at daylight; 
found the field covered with the dead and wounded 
of the enemy, and several graves, where during the 
night they had buried some of their dead. We con- 
tinued the advance nine miles under a burning sun; 
and at half past two o'clock came upon their camp, 
a very strong position where, with a reinforcement of 
two thousand, they had entrenched themselves ; their 
force now consisted of about eight thousand regular 
troops (the rancheros having deserted them), and nine 
pieces of artillery. Here they had long contemplated 
fighting us. A deep ravine, rendered difficult of pas- 
sage by a marshy slough extending along it, formed 
their front, while all approaches through the open 

31 



General Kirby-Smith 

chapparal were raked by their batteries established at 
different points. They had thrown up embankments, 
and their rear was protected by a dense chapparel. 

''The Fifth Regiment led the advance, deployed on 
the left of the road, the Fourth on the right. The 
order was soon given for the Fifth to take the bat- 
teries of the enemy and gallantly did they make the 
charge. All now became confusion. The different 
regiments became mixed and intermingled in the 
dense chaparral through which they rushed; and col- 
lected in small parties, commanded generally by 
younger and more active officers they pushed on 
yelling, shouting, killing and carrying everything 
before them. I never saw such perfect demons in all 
my life as our men became ; they rushed through the 
showers of grape, round and canister, to the very 
mouths of the enemy's pieces, bayoneted their artil- 
lerists, completely routed the infantry drawn up for 
the support of the batteries ; capturing every piece, 
some fifteen hundred stands of arms, 240,000 rounds 
of musket cartridges, all their camp equipage and five 
or six hundred pack mules. Plunder of every kind 
and description was brought in, but every article, 
from a knife to a twelve-pounder has been delivered 
up by order of General Taylor; even the very coats 
our men had on their backs were given up without a 
murmur, for they lost most of their clothes in the 
first action. 

32 



1 



General Kirby-Smith 

''Less than fourteen hundred of our troops were 
brought into action. The whole artillery battalion 
was in reserve, and a large part of the Third did not 
have an opportunity for firing a shot. The Mexicans 
fought bravely, fell at their posts, were bayoneted at 
their pieces and formed piles of dead within their en- 
trenchments before they gave way. One regiment, 
the Tampico Guarda Costa, the best in the Mexican 
service, was completely cut to pieces. They would 
not retreat but fell at their posts ; their Colonel was 
shot and taken prisoner. Most of their officers and 
men were killed or taken. General La Vega is a pris- 
oner. The Mexicans estimate their loss at one thou- 
sand besides forty-eight officers. Their loss in killed, 
wounded and missing cannot be less than two thou- 
sand. They had not calculated at all upon defeat and 
had made no preparations for a retreat, and five hun- 
dred cavalry sent to the ferry (across the Rio Grande) 
could have taken their whole army, for they threw 
down their arms and fled in confusion. Nor have we 
followed up our success. General Taylor left for 
Point Isabel, giving Colonel Twiggs orders to act 
strictly upon the defensive. 

"A complete panic for three days existed over at 
Matamoras. The Mexicans would have surrendered 
on summons, and Colonel Marino, two days since, 
crossed over and informed Colonel Twiggs that any 
town on the other side would surrender to two hun- 

4 33 



General Kirby-Smith 

dred men on summons. On General Taylor's return 
we shall probably march into the country. 

"Thus ended the battle of Resaca de la Palma, a 
victory without its equal in our history, and fought 
without the aid of militia." 

A week later he wrote from the city of Mata- 
moras : 

**You may now banish all concern for our safety. 
The war is pretty much over. Two thousand men, 
were it our policy, could with ease march to the City 
of Mexico. Never were a people so completely cut 
up, so panic-stricken, as the Mexicans now are. All 
their energies, all their resources have been expended 
upon one grand effort. For more than a year they 
have been preparing for this occasion. They have 
staked their all upon the turn of a die, and at one fell 
swoop they have been laid perfectly helpless. In the 
battle of the 8th, which lasted from half-past two in 
the afternoon till dark, the Mexicans acknowledge 
the loss of five hundred killed ; two pieces of artillery ; 
besides the desertion of a large body of cavalry. 
Our loss was between forty and fifty killed and 
wounded. This great disparity in loss is owing to 
the destructive effect with which our artillery was 
served; the shrapnel shells sometimes bursting in 
the very midst of the enemy's entrenchments. With 
a reinforcement of nearly two thousand, they confi- 

34 



General Kirby- Smith 

dently expected our destruction. We stormed their 
works, captured all their artillery, and entirely routed 
a force of 7,180 regular troops. Five hundred, with 
their priest, were drowned in crossing the Rio 
Grande. Our men expected no quarter and fought 
with perfect desperation. It was a hand-to-hand con- 
flict — a trial of personal strength in many instances. 
Where the bayonet failed, the fists even were used. 
(Kirby, in the thickest of the fight, got tired of using 
his sword, and knocked a man down with his fist). 
But in moral courage as well as in personal strength 
we were far their superiors, and have given them a 
lesson which ages cannot obliterate. 

**We lost 180 killed and wounded in the two actions 
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. The Mexicans 
acknowledge a loss of 2,500 in the same. Of the 
Tampico Guarda Costa, the regiment which fought 
so bravely and fell so manfully at their pieces, but 
twenty-six escaped to tell the tale. With General 
Arista's baggage were plans of the campaign, maps 
of the country and all his instructions from the War 
Department. By these we learn that a force of 
nearly 14,000 regular troops had been sent to the 
frontier, 5,000 under Bustamante higher up the 
river. Nine thousand under Arista were to destroy 
General Taylor's army. The two divisions under- 
General Arista were to unite at San Antonio and 
push the war to the Sabine. We understand, too, 

3S 



General Kirby- Smith 

that a division and disposal of our baggage had been 
made previous to the action, so confident were they 
of victory. And the inhabitants say no quarter 
would have been given had we lost the day. General 
Taylor returned to Point Isabel, while the army 
camped on their old ground opposite this city. 

''On the 1 8th we crossed the Rio Bravo del Norte, 
and had we been opposed, most destructive would 
have been the consequences. The river was nearly 
two hundred yards wide, deep and with a rapid cur- 
rent. It took nearly ten hours to pass our little force 
of eisfhteen hundred men over. We found that Gen- 
eral Arista, after destroying all the public property 
possible, had made a precipitate retreat toward Mon- 
terey. His force was nearly four thousand, but in a 
dreadful state of mutiny and disorganization, desert- 
ing him at every opportunity. Stragglers are daily 
coming in and delivering themselves up. They re- 
port to-day that General Arista is a prisoner, charged 
with having delivered up the army to General 
Taylor. 

"Our troops are encamped around the city, while 
the Star Spangled Banner proudly floats over the 
works. We have already found secreted in the town, 
one mortar, some field pieces, a magazine of ammuni- 
tion — shells, grenades, etc., besides a great many 
stands of muskets, and we are getting on the track of 
more artillery, which has been thrown into the river. 

36 



General Kirby- Smith 

The dragoons and ninety mounted rangers were imme- 
diately sent in pursuit of General Arista, intending 
to give him a big scare. We are expecting orders to 
move in a few days — only waiting for the volunteers, 
none of whom have yet arrived. It is said that we 
shall occupy the Rio Grande frontier, headquarters 
being Monterey, and with reinforcements carry the 
war into the interior. 

''Matamoras is quite a large city, with enough able- 
bodied men in it, had they only the courage, to whip 
the very command which is now encamped around it. 
The streets are narrow, the houses built in the Moor- 
ish style with flat roofs, terraced floors and thick 
walls. There is a large plaza in the center of the 
town. The inhabitants, with few exceptions, are a 
mixture of Indian, Negro and Spanish blood, appar- 
ently a great deal below and more ignorant than either 
race. A respectable part of the population, especially 
the women, have moved into the interior. 

"Captain Webster has arrived with one company of 
the First Artillery, from Fort Pickens, and has been 
ordered to Barita, eighteen miles below, where the 
First Infantry and some volunteers are stationed." 

On the 1 8th of August, the following letter was 
written from Comargo : 

"The Eighth Regiment and the i\rtillery have re- 
ceived orders to begin the movement toward Monte- 

37 



General Kirby- Smith 

rey this afternoon; the Fifth and Seventh to hold 
themselves in readiness for the march on the morrow. 
These two brigades, under General Worth, constitute 
the Second Division. The Third, Fourth, First and 
Second, under Twiggs, form the First Brigade, which 
moves on Twiggs' arrival. We are all busily en- 
gaged in making our preparations for crossing the 
mountains. We are in fine health and excellent 
spirits. The camp resounds with the heavy hum of 
our voices; jokes and hilarity circle round; while 
with that carelessness — that recklessness of the future 
which seems characteristic of the soldier's life — all 
seem busily engaged with their mules, mustangs, and 
Mexican amigos, in preparing for some pleasure ex- 
cursion. Nor will we be disappointed in soon engag- 
ing in some grand ball which comes off soon at Mon- 
terey; for the General sits cross-legged in his tent, as 
grum as an old bear — sure- indication of the coming 
storm. We are leaving a beautiful camp, which 
stretches for more than a mile along the banks of 
the San Juan; but without regret, for we all long 
for the mountain winds — the bracing breezes of the 
Sierra. 

"The Mexicans have not yet recovered from the 
panic of the 9th, and though they have been making 
preparations for our reception at Monterey, have been 
concentrating large reinforcements and collecting 
stores and munitions of war, I really believe we will 

38 



General Kirby- Smith 

enter the city without opposition. Major Duncan, 
with thirty rangers, has just returned from a success- 
ful scout. He pushed on to within sight of Monte- 
rey, surrounded nearly three hundred Mexicans at a 
fandango (principally Seguin's men); and though 
Colonel Ramirez had escaped (the principal object of 
the expedition being his capture), he fully exempli- 
fied the cowardice of the Mexican rancheros, for no 
opposition was made, and Duncan returned safely, 
though without Ramirez. Two of the Mexicans at- 
tempted to escape but were shot. One was an 
officer. ' ' 

On the 24th of September, he wrote from " El Ciu- 
dad de Mofiterey " as follows : 

''After four days of hard fighting, I find myself in 
Don Garcia' s house, where our brave fellows picked 
their way yesterday morning. Complete masters of 
the city after a bloody struggle, we have, I believe, 
fought our last fight with the Mexicans. General 
Taylor and General Ampudia have signed an armis- 
tice of eight weeks, the Mexicans to march out with 
all the honors of war, with their arms, six pieces of 
artillery and fifteen days' rations. Their line of 
march to the interior is laid down, and General Tay- 
lor is to advance one thousand men and a battery of 
artillery to the Paso del Rinconado, thirty miles on 

39 



General Kirby- Smith 

the road to Saltillo. Seventy-five hundred regular 
soldiers, two thousand irregulars and thirty-one 
pieces of artillery were included in the capitulation. 
The enemy evacuated a strong position on the plaza 
in the center of the town, with a large permanent 
work (a bastion fort well mounted with artillery and 
defended by a large garrison). Previous to our ar- 
rival their forces numbered nearly twelve thousand 
effective men. Two thousand cavalry were sent to 
the interior as unnecessary in the defence. Others 
deserted ; but on our arrival with six thousand men, 
their force was between eight and nine thousand, 
with forty-one pieces of artillery. 

''We arrived within three miles of the city on the 
19th. Two divisions remained with General Taylor 
to attack in front, while the third marched to the rear 
and attacked the heights which commanded the city, 
from that point. General Worth's division compris- 
ing the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Artillery battal- 
talions and two batteries of artillery, were assigned 
the post of danger, the attack of the heights in 
rear of the town ; and assisted by the Texas Rangers, 
most skilfully, gallantly and successfully did the 
General carry height after height till he finally estab- 
lished himself firmly in the center of the town. 

''Monterey is a handsome city, situated in a beau- 
tiful valley. Nature has done much to make it im- 
pregnable and render it an important position. Com- 

40 



General Kirby- Smith 

manded in rear by almost inaccessible heights, sur- 
mounted by batteries ; with batteries and a large bas- 
tion fort in front and a superior garrison of regulars 
in the town, we have much reason to congratulate 
ourselves, that without a siege train, with inferior 
force and separated from our supplies, we have suc- 
cessfully obtained possession of this point. 

''General Taylor's two divisions captured a battery 
of four pieces, but were repulsed from the town with 
tremendous loss. The Third Infantry, the First In- 
fantry and Baltimore Battalion were literally cut to 
pieces. . . Their whole loss in killed and wounded 
was nearly five hundred. General Worth, with con- 
summate skill, carried each height with its battery, 
stormed the Bishop's Palace (where he captured four 
pieces), successfully advanced to the town, driving 
the Mexicans before him into the plaza, cut them off 
from their communications, and the glory of the ca- 
pitulation is chiefly due to him. 

''We have in our division attained great ends — 
important results with but trifling loss. . . In the 
march of our division on the heights, our advance with 
the rangers had a severe fight with a large body of 
cavalry, killing the Colonel and a Captain, and entirely 
dispersing the Jalisco Regiment of Lancers. Uncle 
Edmund [Kirby] was acting on General Taylor's staff 
on the day of their desperate struggle. The portion 
of the town they entered presents a fearful spectacle. 

41 



General Kirby- Smith 

The pavements are torn up ; , the walls and trees cut 
in pieces by the artillery. Our men were shot from 
the tops of the houses, each of which is a fort in it-^ 
self. Their artillery swept the streets with a destruc- 
tive fire. A great mistake was made somewhere. 
Two divisions were marched into town, against stone 
walls, with nothing in the whole command for break- 
ing into a house. Even Yankees can't butt down 
stone walls, and every Spanish house is built like a fort. 
Our officers fell and died like heroes. Captain Wil- 
liams' last words were: 'Give my friends my dying re- 
gards and tell them I fell at the head of the column. ' 
''Thirty-six pieces of artillery have been turned 
over to us by the Mexicans; more than 4,000 of the 
regular force have already marched out. More than 
2,000 with some militia yet remain. I saw some five 
or six regiments reviewed in the plaza yesterday. 
One regiment in particular was composed of the finest 
looking body of men I ever cast eyes on, in perfect 
discipline and well armed. We have taken plenty 
of ammunition ; and how such men in superior force, 
with plenty of artillery and ammunition, could have 
surrendered, surpasses my comprehension." 

The next interesting letter is dated in Victoria, 
January 5th, 1847: 

"Since I last wrote, I have taken my leave of the 
Fifth Regiment and of [brother] Kirby, and with the 

42 



General Kirby-Smith 

Seventh, of Fort Brown memory, to which I have 
been promoted, I passed my Christmas and New 
Year in tramping over the rocky hills and wastes of 
Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. The Seventh is at- 
tached to the Division of Regulars which arrived 
here yesterday, nearly two thousand strong, and with 
General Quitman's division of volunteers, nearly 
three thousand, and General Patterson's command, 
nearly sixteen hundred. It was General Taylor's in- 
tention to march upon Santa Barbara, and after being 
joined by our artillery and reinforcements from Tam- 
pico, to move on the San Luis road for Tula, where 
the Mexicans have fortified themselves in force, and, 
with artillery under General Urea, await our ap- 
proach. The arrival of General Scott throws a new 
weight into the scale, and will probably make an en- 
tire change in the plan of the campaign. Everything 
now seems involved in doubt and mystery. General 
Taylor is at a loss to know what to do, and knows not 
what orders he may receive ; has suspended his move- 
ments and declares he will not move from Victoria till 
he receives orders from General Scott. Moreover, 
we now learn that there is no practicable route across 
the Sierra from Tampico to San Luis. An army, to 
reach a vital point in Mexico, must pass by way of 
Vera Cruz or through Saltillo. General Urea endeav- 
ored to cross his artillery over the mountains from 
Tula, but finding it impracticable, he was compelled 

43 



General Kirby-Smith 

to give up Victoria without striking a blow in its 
defense. His cavalry evacuated the city the day be- 
fore General Quitman entered. 

*'Our distance from Monterey is eighty leagues. 
We made the march in thirteen days, two of which, 
owing to unavoidable detentions, we remained en- 
camped on the road. We passed through three large 
towns averaging five thousand inhabitants (Cadereita, 
Morelos, and Linares), besides several villages and 
haciendas. The road skirts along, at ten or fifteen 
miles from the base of the Sierra, and excepting 
in the neighborhood of the towns and haciendas, 
which lie along water courses, through a dry, parched 
and unproductive country is entirely destitute of trees, 
but abounding in rocks and the thorny chaparral 
bush. 

*'At the towns and haciendas, where the country 
admits of irrigation, the orange, lime, lemon and 
various other trees and fruits, flourish in all the exu- 
berance of a tropical clime. Fields of cotton, coffee 
and sugar-cane, the broad leafed banana, with the 
dark, rich foilage of orange and aguacate, there greet 
our arrival after a long and toilsome day's march over 
a dusty waste. The little knowledge of Spanish 
picked up at Monterey from my hospitable acquaint- 
ances in that city made me friends all along the road. 
I left that city with much regret, for I had become 
very much attached to many of my Monterey friends. 

44 



General Kirby- Smith 

Never in my life had I met so much real kindness, 
warmth of feeling and interest in my welfare, as several 
of my friends there evinced. They were constantly 
giving me proofs of their regard, sending me sweet- 
meats and other nice things; and during my sickness, 
an old lady, who always called me her son, visited me 
and attended at my bedside with all the interest and 
anxiety that a mother could manifest. I found a 
great deal of refinement, some talent and education, 
with a kindness of heart and warmth of feeling quite 
universal among the higher classes. I lived for six 
months with Don Jesus Prieto, a licenciado (or law- 
yer), a scientific man, rich, of considerable talents, 
good education, and well known for his charity and 
benevolent feelings. He was long time the diputado 
from the Department of Nuevo Leon, and was at one 
time President of Congress. Under the patronage 
of his interesting family, I soon became acquainted 
with all the buenos y decentes of Monterey. But great 
is the contrast between the educated class and the 
great body of the people, who are plunged in igno- 
rance and superstition, and much darker in morals 
than they are in complexion. 

* 'Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, lies at the 
base of the Sierra Madre, distant about eighty leagues 
from the three principal cities of Eastern Mexico — 
Monterey, Tampico and Matamoras. Its population 
is about 4,000, and like all Mexican towns, speaks of 

45 



General Kirby- Smith 

times gone by. Old and ruined houses, dilapidated 
walls, crumbling churches, or the unfinished founda- 
tions of some magnificent cathedral, meet the view 
on every side. A miserable, ignorant and beggarly 
people, half naked, lounging around or squatting like 
Indians, at the street corners and on the main plaza, 
form two-thirds of the population of the towns east 
of the Sierra, and of the ranchos — the peons of the 
haciendas of the rich. The whole country from 
Monterey to Matamoras and Tampico exhibits a peo- 
ple lapsing deeper and deeper into ignorance and 
superstition. Ruined houses, deserted fields and 
ranchos, crumbling cathedrals and the dilapidated 
condition of the towns, all mark how great has been 
the decrease in population, how rapid the decline since 
the rule of the Spanish. Indeed the inhabitants all 
refer to the times of the Spanish Governor as those 
of peace and plenty. Then, at least, they were secure 
from the depredations of the Indio. 

"Our regiment is now under orders to put itself in 
readiness to move at a moment's warning. It is sup- 
posed to feel its way to Santa Barbara." 

Letters from others about this time speak of Lieu- 
tenant Edmund Kirby Smith as a "gallant, glorious 
fellow and a universal favorite," and quote General 
Taylor as pronouncing him "a very promising offi- 
cer." When the plans of General Scott had devel- 

46 



General Kirby-Smith 

oped, the young lieutenant left Victoria for the coast, 
where, on the brig 'Totter" of the fleet of transports, 
he sailed with a large portion of the army for Vera 
Cruz. He was in Twiggs' Brigade on the extreme 
left of the line of investment of the city. His 
brother. Captain Ephraim Kirby Smith, was in 
Worth's Brigade on the right. After the taking of 
Vera Cruz, the latter was sent on an expedition to 
ascend the river at Alvarado, eighty miles; to take 
possession of the country and secure, by purchase, 
horses and mules for the transportation of the army. 
Lieutenant Edmund Kirby Smith's account of the 
operations at Vera Cruz is given in a letter to his 
mother written from that city on the 3rd of April, 
1847: 

**We have just achieved a result, stupenduous in 
itself and grand through the influence it must have 
on our future operations; and most joyfully do we 
hail it as the harbinger of a change in the system 
hitherto pursued in our campaign. Rashness, un- 
flinching determination and bull-dog courage, have 
achieved results glorious for our arms, honorable for 
the Nation, and I may almost say, unparalleled in the 
history of the world. But how much more glorious 
would it have been, how much more satisfactory for the 
country and to ourselves, had they been obtained with- 
out the loss of so much blood, and the sacrifice of so 

47 



General Kirby- Smith 

many valuable lives. Science, with the long and sad 
experience of the other continent, teaches what is 
truly the military maxim, that the greatness of the 
victory is measured, not by the immensity of the loss 
on either side, but by the accomplishment of the re- 
sult with the smallest possible loss. Had we stormed 
the City of Vera Cruz, we could have only surmounted 
its walls by a sacrifice of little short of 3,000 
lives. 

"Our fleet of transports anchored at Anton Lizar- 
do, twelve miles from the city, early in March. On 
the 9th we made our landing at Sacrificios, three 
miles from the guns of the castle San Juan de Ulua. 
General Worth's Brigade formed the first line or 
right, comprising the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and 
Eighth Infantry, Second and Third Artillery, with 
the Marines, Sappers and Miners and Rocketiers. 
General Patterson's Division of Volunteers, the second 
line; the remainder of the regulars, including the 
the Rifles, under General Twiggs, formed the third 
line or left wing of the army. The surf boats 
of the first line struck the beach in beautiful order, 
and, headed by the gallant Worth, 3,000 men moved 
up to their position amid deafening cheers from the 
fleet and transports, and the soul-inspiring strains of 
our Navy band. By eleven at night, our whole army 
was landed and the doom of Vera Cruz was sealed. 

"On the morning of the nth, General Twiggs' 

48 



General Kirby-Smith 

Brigade moved for its position on the extreme left, 
distant seven miles through thickets and marshes 
and over sand hills. We were three days in arriving 
in position, our advance continually skirmishing with 
light troops of the enemy, while their heavy shot and 
shell were occasionally flying over our heads. It was 
on our first day's march that Captain Albertes was 
killed by an eighteen-pound shot taking off his head. 
I was immediately in rear, heard with fearful fore- 
boding the heavy fall of shot in front, and found my- 
self passing over the remains of the gallant captain, 
while the surgeon was busy taking off the leg of one 
of his men who fell by the same shot. We moved on 
rapidly, leaving a few men to bury the brave man 
where he fell, and with a silent prayer for his soul, 
all was soon forgotten — even that such might soon 
be the fate of any one of us. 

"We debouched on the Jalapa road at a little Mex 
ican village where we captured a convoy of provisions 
(wine and cattle) going into the city. And what with 
cattle, mules, ai-rieros, the frightened inhabitants 
running for their lives, the shouts and huzzas of our 
half-starved men as they dashed into the deserted 
ranchos, was presented one of those Peninsular scenes 
so admirably depicted by Lover's inimitable pen. 
We endeavored to restore order, when I saw one of 
my men coming out of a house with a well-stored bag 
of pilojtcillo, or Mexican sugar. I raised my sword 

5 49 



General Kirby- Smith 

and put on a most ferocious look, when his extended 
bag of the much desired sweets, and his offer, 'Will 
the Lieutenant take some?' completely subdued my 
indignation; and with the request for him to take his 
place in ranks, I divided the spoils with Captain 
Paul. 

"We opened our first battery on the 22nd of March, 
and on the 28th the terms of the capitulation were 
drawn up, and on the 29th the Star Spangled Banner 
floated over the walls of Ulua and the fortifications of 
Vera Cruz. Our loss has been but trifling — two 
officers and some twenty or thirty men killed and 
wounded. Captain Vinton was killed by a shell while 
superintending the work of the trenches. At the 
time our fire ceased we had ten mortars in position, 
seven in operation with several batteries of heavy 
artillery, but their execution on the town was ter- 
rific. Some three or four hundred citizens, men, 
women and children were killed or wounded. The 
open part of the city is completely in ruins. The 
Cathedral of Mercy is much injured — almost a ruin, 
while the custom house with other public buildings 
and churches, are more or less injured. The fortress 
of San Juan de Ulua is a formidable work, impreg- 
nable to all but starvation, rising out of the ocean 
six hundred yards from the city. With its outworks, 
four bastions and water battery, it mounts more than 
two hundred pieces of heavy artillery and mortars, 

50 



General Kirby-Smith 

among which are many eighty-four and sixty-eight 
pounders and heavy Paixhan guns. 

"The town, which contains many fine buildings 
and churches, and presents altogether quite an impos- 
ing appearance, is surrounded by a wall ten feet high 
and flanked by numerous forts placed at intervals 
along the line. By the terms of the capitulation, 
4,000 prisoners, more than 400 pieces of artillery, 
with a large amount of stores, shot, shell, arms, etc., 
fell into our possession. Some 5,000 men, including 
Twiggs' Division and a brigade of volunteers, are 
now under orders for La Puente Nacional (the Na- 
tional Bridge), a strong position thirty miles distant, 
defended by two permanent works and heavy artil- 
lery; and where, it is said, the Mexicans are concen- 
trating for another stand. General Patterson goes 
in command, with twelve pieces of heavy artillery and 
two mortars. A force has taken Alvarado, and one, 
under Colonel Harney, has gone to Antigua." 

A letter written about this time by Captain Ed- 
mund Kirby describes the conquest of Vera Cruz and 
of the Castle of San Juan de Ulua as *'a great achieve- 
ment, purchased at little cost, except indeed the loss 
of poor Vinton, whose life was valuable beyond price. 
He was killed in the trenches by a shell. That even- 
ing, to the staff circle at his tent. General Scott pro- 
nounced the most feeling and eloquent eulogium on 

51 



General Kirby- Smith 

the deceased I ever listened to. Every heart was 
full, every eye glistened." 

*'A bombardment," this interesting letter contin- 
ues, "is a new phase in the experience of us all. It 
is a sublime spectacle. The fire from our batteries 
was kept up incessantly day and night, from the 22nd 
to the 26th of March. We opened with seven mor- 
tars and closed with twenty-six mortars and heavy 
guns. The fire was returned by the enemy from a 
much larger number of guns. At night the scene 
was awful. Imagine the air filled with shells cross- 
ing each other in every direction, their courses trace- 
able by their burning fuses, mounting majestically 
to a great height, pausing an instant in their flight 
and then descending with great velocity upon the de- 
voted city; exploding as they reached the ground and 
spreading death and destruction in every direction. 
Falling upon the flat roofs, which they crushed, and 
exploding within the walls, the effect was terrible. 
The crash of the timbers and the skrieks and moans 
of the poor victims within the town, were heard dis- 
tinctly in our trenches, and filled even our rough 
soldiers with awe. 

''When we entered the city the terrible effect of 
our fire was plainly visible. Hardly a building in the 
city was untouched. Whole blocks were reduced to 
heaps of ruins. Every building in the city is of stone 
with flat roof. Frequently the .roof and furniture 

52 



General Kirby-Smith 

being mingled in a mass, would take fire, leaving 
only blackened walls. The streets were obstructed 
by heaps of rubbish ejected from the ruined buildings 
by the bursting shells. 

"This morning I visited a church which was 
pierced by forty or fifty shot and shell — a splendid 
edifice, richly ornamented by splendidly clad images 
of saints and martyrs and all the appliances of Rom- 
ish worship. It was a shocking sight. The images 
shattered, the showy ornaments of the altar torn away ; 
banners for show days, priests' robes, ornaments of 
all descriptions, illuminated books, and all the para- 
phernalia of worship, where worship consists only of 
empty show, were thrown on the floor, mingled with 
broken plaster and stone and fragments of shell in 
utmost confusion. It was known that the Mexicans 
were in the habit of storing ammunition in their 
churches. In this church were huge piles of Mexican 
cannon balls and in the bomb-proof vaults (used 
sometimes for the punishment of the wicked) were 
stored large quantities of fixed ammunition. If a 
shell had exploded in this the explosion would have 
been awful. 

"This is war in its most dread form, hardly sur- 
passed by the terrors of assault. I pray God I may 
never have occasion to witness another bombardment. 
It will, however, have the good effect of striking ter- 
ror into the other cities of Mexico, and I much doubt 

53 



General Kirby-Smith 

if any other will subject itself to a similar visitation. 
We shall take a battery of mortars with us as we ad- 
vance, but I think the gates of Jalapa and Perote will 
be opened to us without our using them. 

**We think it fortunate that the enemy surrendered. 
In our hands, the Castle could not have been taken. 
It is a fortress of immense strength, mounting 130 
guns of very heavy calibre. The Navy are in favor 
ot blowing it up and not leaving one stone upon 
another. 

"The opinion prevails in camp that the glorious 
victory of Taylor at Buena Vista and the fall of the 
important city and post of Vera Cruz with the Castle 
of San Juan de Ulua, will satisfy the Mexicans that 
they are playing a losing game, and dispose them to 
peace. ... It is reported that Santa Anna has 
coalesced with the priests, who it is supposed will 
prefer peace to supporting the war by contributions 
from their own property, and that the Union and 
Santa Anna and the Church will form a government 
strong enough to make peace. For the great diffi- 
culty is that the war party is powerful enough to over- 
throw almost any government that advocates peace. 
Our wish is perhaps father to the thought. My 
peace predictions have failed so often that I am not 
over sanguine now, but I do wish to get out of the 
country. 

*'I must not forget to tell you about the Orizaba, 

54 



General Kirby-Smith 

whose lofty peak, clad in eternal snow, refreshes my 
sight every clear morning when I put my head out of 
my tent. It is upward of sixty miles distant, yet in 
a clear atmosphere can be distinctly seen. The snow 
glittering in the morning sun, while the line dividing 
it from the verdure of eternal spring which clothes 
the sides of the mountain, is distinctly visible; and 
the base is parched with the heat of eternal summer." 

On the 26th of April, Captain Ephraim Kirby 
Smith wrote from Jalapa a brief letter to his mother, 
telling her that he was not in the severe contest at 
Cerro Gordo, but that his Uncle Edmund Kirby and 
his brother, "Ted" (Edmund Kirby Smith), were. 
^'Doctor McLaren," wrote Captain Kirby Smith, 
"who was with Ted, told me last evening that when 
the action commenced, Ted was sick in bed; and that 
in spite of his remonstrances, he got up and Vv^ent to 
his duty ; and, as he ever will, he fought most gallant- 
ly." "I am happy to have it in my power to state," 
wrote Lieutenant Colonel Plympton of the Seventh 
Infantry, to the General-in-Chief, in his report of the 
movements of his regiment in that battle, "that 
such facts have been presented to me within the last 
day or two as to leave no doubt (even if one pre- 
viously existed) that Second Lieutenant;. E. K. Smith, 
Seventh Infantry, was, if not the first, one of the first 
officers of the Seventh Infantry in^the enemy's works 

55 



General Kirby-Smith 

on Telegraph Heights on the morning of the i8th of 
April ; in whose case I am gratified in having an op- 
portunity of conveying his name, with the facts con- 
nected, to the General-in-Chief, and as an officer of 
much merit and promise." 

''Ted" w^as, in fact, brevetted for his gallantry at 
Cerro Gordo, and a few days after that battle he 
was ordered back from Jalapa to Plan del Rio to 
assist in removing the wounded and to escort them 
to Jalapa. His gallantry won him another brevet at 
the battle of Contreras, and he went on with the ever 
victorious army up to the City of Mexico. His con- 
duct in the series of battles which led up to the occu- 
pation of the Mexican capital is incidentally refer- 
red to in the letter of Colonel Kirby, his uncle, who 
wrote from Tacubaya on the 12th of September, 1847, 
the details of the last hours of Captain Ephraim 
Kirby Smith, after the battle of Molino del Rey : 

"The illness of Lieutenant Colonel C. F. Smith,' 
devolved the command of the Light Battalion upon 
Kirby, and he led it to the attack on the enemy's lines 

^ Charles Ferguson Smith, Commandant of Cadets at West 
Point until 1S42, and Edmund Kirby Smith's Instructor of In- 
fantry Tactics, afterwards Major General United States Volun- 
teers. Not " Baldy," Cadet Kirby Smith's classmate and room- 
mate. 

56 



General Kirby-Smith 

in Molino del Rey at the foot of Chapultepec, at dawn 
on the 8th instant. The conflict was the most bloody 
and obstinately contested of the whole series from 
Palo Alto down. Our arms triumphed over the fear- 
ful odds of six to one. But at what a price was the 
battle won! The list of fallen embraces'some of the 
most shining names among the band of heroes that 
compose this army. 

''Kirby led on his battalion with a gallantry that 
commands the admiration of the whole army. He fell 
at its head in the moment of victory. A musket ball 
struck him in the left eye and passed out at the left 
ear. He fell, as if dead, among the stones, severely 
contusing the right side of his face. The wound was 
not necessarily mortal, for the ball in its passage did 
not touch the brain, and the fatal result was in some 
measure owing to the contusion from the fall. I had 
him removed to my quarters in Tacubaya, a little 
more than a mile from the spot where he fell, and had 
his wounds dressed and every possible care bestowed 
upon him. But in vain. He lingered until four o'clock 
yesterday afternoon, when his spirit took flight, and 
we consigned his mortal remains to the earth — the 
Rev. Mr. McCarty, our most worthy and respected 
Chaplain, reading the solemn burial service of our 
Church. 

"He received his wound early in the morning of 
the 8th. It was at first dressed by Dr. Simmons 

SI 



General Kirby- Smith 

and afterwards carefully attended by the Surgeon 
General, several other surgeons aiding him by their 
counsel. Throughout the 9th, we all indulged some 
hopes of his recovery, though his efforts to talk were 
painful, for he could not articulate distinctly and his 
perceptions were not clear. He, however, recognized 
me, and throwing his arms around my neck, ex- 
claimed, *My dear Uncle Edmund.' Then, his mind 
evidently dwelling upon the last scene of his activity, 
he said to me, 'Uncle, I tried to do it, I tried to do 
it. I tried to push ahead, but they almost killed me.' 
On the loth, his sufferings were intense till at even- 
ing, when he fell into a lethargic sleep from which he 
could not be roused. On the morning of the nth, he 
was removed on the shoulders of men of his company 
to Miscoique (Mixcoac), a neighboring village two 
miles distant, where the depot and general hospital is 
established and where all the sick and wounded men 
were carried by order of the General-in-Chief, in 
contemplation of a movement of the troops from this 
place, which is, indeed, under the guns of the enemy. 
The removal did not effect him injuriously. Dr. Sat- 
terlee and myself accompanied him, and we estab- 
lished him comfortably in the quarters of Lieutenant 
Caldwell, of the Marine Corps. He sank to rest 
without rallying or rousing from his slumbers. 

** Edmund, who was at the advance post, Piedad, 
near the city, came to his brother as often as he 

58 



General Kirby- Smith 

could at my quarters, and arrived at Miscoique a 
short time after his decease, when he remained all 
night and until after the funeral services this morn- 
ing. Edmund, noble, generous fellow, is most deeply 
distressed, and constantly laments that he himself was 
not the victim. He has borne himself with the most 
distinguished gallantry in all the battles, and is loved 
and admired by all ; but his rank is too low for him 
to be benefitted by his gallantry as he ought. 

** Kirby, the noble, brave fellow, did 'try to push 
ahead;' and sacrificed his life to a sense of duty, in 
an exhibition of daring courage and gallantry unsur- 
passed on any occasion. He displayed equal gal- 
lantry before the tete da pont at Churubusco in the 
great battle of Mexico, the 20th of August, when he 
rallied the battalion under a dreadful fire at a critical 
moment, and where his conduct was the theme of 
universal admiration ; but, though then exposed to a 
most dreadful fire, he fortunately escaped unhurt. 
He fairly earned, the voice of the army accorded him, 
and the Government must have conferred upon him, 
had he lived, the brevet of Major for the 20th of 
August, and of Lieutenant Colonel for the 8th of 
September. But alas, these empty honors are buried 
in his untimely grave. 

''The records of history do not show a more de- 
voted band of patriots than this heroic army, which 
is now battling for victory. It may be that v/e shall 

S9 



General Kirby-Smith 

be reduced to struggling for our lives ere long The 
world will marvel that a government controlling the 
destinies of 20,000,000 of people should send an army 
of less than 10,000 men, three hundred miles from 
the coast into the midst of 7,000,000 of people and 
against a capital of 200,000 inhabitants, bitterly hos- 
tile in their feelings and defended by a well-appointed 
army of 32,000 men; and leave its brave soldiers to 
conquer or die, while it falsely proclaims, through its 
official organ, that the operating army numbers up- 
wards of 20,000 men. This army can conquer any 
fighting force the enemy can array against it. It can 
fight its way into the capital; but it cannot afford to 
lose the brave men each victory costs, and we have 
not sufficient numbers to overcome the villainous pop- 
ulation by which we shall be surrounded after we 
enter the capital." 

Eleven days later. Colonel Kirby wrote from the 
National Palace, in the City of Mexico, as follows: 

"Another glorious victory — or rather several — 
won on the 13th, have given us possession of the 
famed capital of the Aztecs. The Mexican army is 
dispersed and the government dissolved ; but the peo- 
ple remain bitterly hostile, and we are perhaps as far 
from peace as at the outset. If this war is to be 
prosecuted, the government of the United States 

60 



General Kirby- Smith 

must at once and without any delay send a new army 
of 5,000 men to Mexico. The people of this God- 
forsaken, priest-ridden country are demi-savages, in- 
capable of appreciating generous treatment, and only 
to be controlled by the iron hand of power. We 
must either leave them to go to destruction their 
own gait, or coerce them by the strong arm of power. 
There is no middle course. 

"There are many wonders for the curious to be 
seen here. My duties engage all my time. I have, 
however, just seen the renowned Zodiac or Astro- 
nomical Stone, which from its undoubted Aztec 
origin, I regard as the most remarkable memento 
in that interesting race, and the most curious relic 
in Mexico. I occupy rooms in the Palace of the 
Secretary of War and Marine, which are furnished 
sumptuously and overlook the Grand Plaza. So that 
I am, in fact, in what are deemed to be the Halls of 
the Montezumas. But the Montezumas had as little 
to do with them as the man in the moon. Edmund 
is well. I see him every day. He will not write 
you now for want of opportunity. Our only chance 
for sending letters is by smuggling them into the 
valise of the courier of the British Legation. But I 
hope, before long, we shall be released from this state 
of bondage." 



6i 



CHAPTER IV 
WEST POINT AGAIN 

Peace was established between the United States 
and Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 
signed in February, 1848, and the American troops 
began the evacuation of the country. In the April 
following. Colonel Edmund Kirby was in Washing- 
ton, urging upon all his acquaintances in Congress 
the passage of a pension bill providing for the wid- 
ows and orphans of the army. He wrote to his sister 
upon a sheet of paper which he had evidently se- 
cured while he was comfortably ensconced in the 
luxuriously furnished apartments of the Mexican 
Secretary of War and Marine; for the ornately 
engraved heading of the sheet reads: '^Correspond- 
encia Particular del Ministro de Estado y del 
Despacho de Gtierro y Marino^ Palacio Nacional de 
Mexico «-...." 

The more interesting portion of his letter, how- 
ever, is the statement that a very long list of names 
was before Congress for brevets, and among them was 
that of Edmund Kirby Smith for First Lieutenant. 
His uncle was making an effort to provide for the 
further nomination of the said Edmund Kirby. Smith 

62 



General Kirby-Smith 

for Captain; and General Twiggs, who was then in 
Washington, was adding the weight of his influence 
with the same end in view. Eventually, these efforts 
were successful. 

Judge Smith had died at his home in Florida, on 
the 27th of May, 1846, while the preparations for 
carrying the campaign into Mexico were in progress. 
Nearly a year later, his son Edmund, on the eve of 
the march towards the Mexican capital, wrote from 
Vera Cruz to the executor of his father's estate offer- 
ing to meet, within a year, all claims made on the 
estate, in order that it might be freed from all en- 
cumbrances and be enabled to pay to his mother, 
the widow, all its income. At the same time he en- 
closed a check for his mother's use. This was an 
earnest of his filial conduct throughout his mother's 
life. 

Returning to the United States after the peace was 
signed. Brevet Captain Edmund Kirby Smith went 
to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and into garrison 
life. In a letter to his mother, dated November i8th, 
1848, he described garrison life at the Barracks as 
follows : 

"We, some time since, regularly entered upon the 
routine of garrison life — drill, guard and dress parade; 
the billiard room after breakfast, and a visit to the 
ladies in the evening. What a contrast to the excite- 

63 



General Kirby-Smith ^| 



ments and incidents of the three past years ! Then it 
was that to live was to know how to appreciate living. 
Now, automaton-like, we involuntarily glide through 
the same monotonous scene, needing only, like the 
works of a watch, to be wound up each twenty-four 
hours, when away we spin, tickety-tick, till the stir- 
ring notes of reveille again wind up our rickety 
machinery for a repetition of the same daily revolution. 
No remedy now remains for us but to fall in love, 
and most truly do the young officers, or as our worthy 
Colonel styles them, 'the young gentlemen in com- 
mission,' appreciate the state of affairs; for, from the 
assiduity of their attentions, they seem determined 
to be as successful in love as they have proved them- 
selves invincible in war. 

"When I tell you that St. Louis is only ten miles 
from the Barracks, you will no doubt say 'What lucky 
Infantry fellows, to be stationed thus within reach of 
the luxuries of civilized life! How much too good 
for a doughboy!' Notwithstanding its location, the 
Barracks are anything but a desirable station. The 
quarters are mean and miserable, the worst even in 
the most western line of infantry posts. The situa- 
tion is bleak and cold, upon the bluffs of the Missis- 
sippi ; and in the fall it is extremely unhealthy. This 
is the opinion generally entertained of Jefferson Bar- 
racks. I myself look upon it in quite a different 
light. I am much pleased with my position and con- 

64 



General Kirby-Smith 

sider myself a fixture, for two or three years at least, 
with the prospect of gradually arranging around us 
all the luxuries of civilized life. I have already fur- 
nished my quarters in a style quite creditable to 
bachelor apartments. 

** Speaking of quarters, you can have no idea of the 
scratching and pulling there has been here this fall 
about them. Besides the Seventh and Eighth, two 
or three companies of Dragoons and several Rifles, 
we have had here six or eight unattached members of 
the Medical Corps, the General Staff, Chaplain, and 
several other interlopers. Garrets have been in great 
demand, while subalterns have stood but a poor 
chance in the general scramble. Thanks to the kind- 
ness of Loring, I have been perfectly independent of 
all the manoeuvering, moving and counter-moving of 
quarters. By virtue of his rank he is entitled to two 
suites of rooms. He gives me one and takes the other 
himself. No one now under the rank of Colonel can 
turn me out of my domicile. Colonel Loring is an 
excellent fellow, and notwithstanding his citizen ap- 
pointment, has won the esteem and respect of all by 
his gentlemanly ]^deportment and his generous and 
liberal conduct," 

The Colonel Loring thus mentioned was William 
Wing Loring, who had lost his right arm while leading 
his regiment into the City of Mexico two years before, 

6 65 



General Kirby- Smith 

and who was, soon after this letter was written, on 
the outbreak of the ''gold fever" in California, or- 
dered to cross the continent with his regiment and 
take command of the department of Oregon. He 
marched a distance of 2,500 miles with a train of six 
hundred mule teams, which was then considered the 
greatest military feat of the kind on record. He be- 
came Major General Loring in the Confederate 
Army, and acquired the name of **01d Blizzard" 
among the soldiers of the Confederacy. He subse- 
quently entered the services of the Khedive of Egypt, 
and wrote, among other things, ''A Confederate Sol- 
dier in Egypt." 

On the 1st of March, 1849, Captain Edmund wrote 
to his mother: 

"Speaking of society, our garrison boasts quite an 
extensive and agreeable collection of ladies and gen- 
tlemen, and they are not all doughboys either; for 
besides the Seventh and a battalion of the Third, the 
Rifle Regiment, two companies of Artillery and one 
of Dragoons have been for some time organizing 
and equipping here for a trip to the mountains in 
the spring. We are, besides, only ten miles from 
St. Louis and have the entree to the houses and 
families of all the people of fashion and distinc- 
tion. However, I but seldom visit the city. The 

66 



General Kirby-Smith 

gaieties of fashionable society have but few charms 
for me." 



In the summer of 1849, the cholera was raging in 
St. Louis. As many as four hundred deaths occurred 
daily in the city, while the epidemic raged even more 
fiercely in the country and neighboring villages. 
Hundreds and thousands fled in every direction. 
The roads from the city were lined with wagons and 
conveyances of every description. Rich and poor 
alike hurried along, anxious to excape the doom 
which seemingly overhung them. Captain Kirby 
Smith had desired, after the departure of his friend 
Colonel Loring from Jefferson Barracks, to be placed 
on duty at the Military Academy, West Point, in 
order that he might prepare himself, by a course of 
professional study for the event of his resigning from 
the army, should that ever be his wish. He was ac- 
cordingly appointed instructor in mathematics at 
West Point. He deferred leaving for his new posi- 
tion until the mortality subsided in St. Louis and its 
vicinity ; but he found the cholera making its appear- 
ance along the railroad, through Michigan, along the 
Lakes and in the upper part of the State of New 
York. 

"There seemed," so he wrote to his mother on the 
7th of August, from Brownsville, New York, "some 

67 



General Kirby- Smith 

tatality attending my footsteps. It seemed that the 
doom of the Wandering Jew followed in my track. 
With a shudder through my veins, I found myself 
thinking of examining the prints of my footsteps for 
that mysterious sign of the cross." 

On his journey east he found at Syracuse that the 
name of Kirby Smith was held in high esteem. It 
was the home of the family of his brother and he was 
detained there and treated with distinguished consid- 
eration by the citizens. He visited friends in the 
neighborhood of New York City, paid a visit to his 
old home in St. Augustine, and reported for duty at 
West Point on the 22nd of October. A week later he 
wrote to his mother: 

"They have got me well into the traces — as they 
style it here — and most terribly tight traces they 
are. Up at daylight, study till 7, breakfast; attend 
recitation till 11 130, and then study till i. Lunch and 
exercise, thirty minutes; then study till 7 p.m. Dine 
and indulge in a half-hour's luxury of looking at even- 
ing parade and hearing superior and skillfully exe 
cuted music from the cadet band; and finally con- 
clude the amusements of the day by studying till bed 
time — generally 11 p.m. You have here my daily 
routine of duty for at least a year to come. No vari- 
ety, no change — unless I make up my mind to apply 

68 



General Kirby- Smith 

for orders; which, before the year is over, I shall 
probably do." 

He had hoped, whether he remained in the army 
or entered the ministry, to improve and cultivate his 
mind by the study of those subjects which he felt had 
been neglected in the course of his education at West 
Point. He expressed disappointment in this, and 
found his opportunities for improvement much more 
limited than they would have been had he been with 
his regiment. He thus writes: 

**The advantages of being near New York, where 
books and advice are always to be found, and of hav- 
ing a large and fine library at my disposal here, are 
all lost to me by my being compelled to apply myself 
so very closely to the immediate duties of my depart- 
ment. I do not find time even to read the morning 
paper after breakfast. 

''Mr. Church, the Professor of Mathematics, as- 
signed me to duty with the third class of cadets and 
placed two sections under my charge. This places 
me immediately at the instruction of the very high- 
est branches of Mathematics; for the third class fin- 
ishes the course of Mathematics in June. This re- 
quires, in addition to the study of the subject under 
instruction, a proficiency in all the various prepara- 
tory branches, including Algebra, Geometry, Trigo- 

69 



General Kirby- Smith 

nometry, Descriptive, Shades and Shadows, Analyti- 
cal, etc. The truth is, I shall have to study very hard, 
day and night, for the next twelve months. After 
which I will have a more pleasant time." 

A few weeks later he was able to write that Mathe- 
matics had ceased to trouble him and did not occupy 
so much of his time; that things were gliding along 
smoothly and quietly and that he could roam around 
the mountains; not in idleness, but admiring nature's 
beauties. He was ever an admirer of nature and a 
student of her ways, and he considered, as he ex- 
pressed it, "a love and appreciation of her beauties 
as forming the true poetry of one's character." 

It seemed at one time that his long cherished desire 
to apply for orders in the Church might be realized 
sooner than he had anticipated. He thus describes 
the situation: 

**The superintendent has construed an article of 
the Academic Regulations to require the attendance 
of all officers and professors at Divine service in the 
Cadets' Chapel on Sunday. Several have protested 
against the illegality and unconstitutionality of the 
order. Others have refused to obey, having consci- 
entious scruples. The Secretary of War has as yet 
acted upon the case of but one officer, who has been 

70 



General Kirby- Smith 

relieved from duty and ordered to join his regiment. 
It is supposed that like action will be taken upon the 
others. I have written my application, requesting 
that, in case a free exercise of my religious belief is 
considered incompatible with the interests of the 
Academy, I may be immediately relieved from duty; 
but I shall not forward it to Washington till after the 
action of the Secretary of War on the cases now under 
consideration." 

This trouble subsided in due time, and on the 14th 
of February, 1850, Captain Kirby Smith wrote: 

"Our sources of amusement are varied, as they 
must necessarily be where so large a number of bach- 
elor officers are collected together. The mess alone 
numbers over twenty, of whom several lay claim to 
wit, talent, genius and scientific attainments. Our 
evening gatherings are recherche^ entertaining and 
improving. We have a Chess Club, and a Shake- 
speare Club, each meeting weekly; besides an or- 
chestral performance, where the music of the best 
masters is performed with taste and in a scientific 
style. 

"They keep me hard at work, and will till the mid- 
dle of June, when the examination takes place. We 
are now at the most difficult part of the Mathematical 
course, the Differential and Integral Calculus, and I 

71 



General Kirby- Smith 

find I have to devote seven or eight hours daily to 
the subject in order to do it justice." 

The Professor spent his holidays with his mother 
in St. Augustine. His health was not always good, 
and his desire to take holy orders was postponed. In 
September, 1852, he received orders to join his regi- 
ment, and Major Garnet, the Captain of his company 
having been appointed Commandant of Cadets and 
ordered to report for duty at West Point, it became 
imperative for him to join his company, where, by 
virtue of his brevet, his rank and position would be 
that of Captain. 

**My military pride," he wrote to his mother, **my 
reputation as a soldier, demand that I should not ab- 
sent myself under such circumstances; and, indeed, 
my health requires a change of life and habits, and I 
am convinced that the active life, which, as com- 
mander of a mounted company, I must necessarily 
lead in Texas, will be the most beneficial change that 
could have taken place. 

'*My company is stationed at Ringgold Barracks, 
opposite Comargo, on the Rio Grande. It is mounted 
and has been doing dragoon duty for nearly two years 
past, and is said to be the best company of men in 
that department. Much as I regret leaving the At- 
lantic borders and being again separated from friends 

72 



General Kirby- Smith 

and relatives, I am delighted with the prospect of 
active service and of again doing military duty. 
What pleasure it will be to feel once more like a sol- 
dier; to know that I have a profession and am en- 
gaged in its legitimate duties. I have chosen the 
army, or rather the army has been selected for me as 
a profession, and I see no prospect of its ever being 
changed. I do not regret it ; I am proud of it. But 
to be contented I must be devoted to it. I must 
honor my profession and not endeavor to shun or 
avoid its duties when unpleasant or disagreeable. 
Should I now remain absent, at^a time when the com- 
mand of my coumpany is offered me, my self-respect 
would be lowered, my military character endangered, 
and my companions would, indeed, judge me better 
fitted for the pedagogue than the soldier. . . . 

*'I have been for some days engaged in preparing 
my baggage so as to have as few superfluities as pos- 
sible. The principal items on my lists are books, a 
lamp, bedstead, keg of gun powder, six-shooter, knife 
and double-barrel shot gun. There is some advantage 
in being a bachelor. When I look at the ship-load of 
furniture, to say nothing of the wife and three chil- 
dren, the Colonel has to pack off with himself wher- 
ever he goes, and compare his with my own personel, 
which all goes into a good-sized trunk, I feel some- 
what reconciled to an order which, in sending me to 
Texas, dooms me to old bachelordom." 

73 



CHAPTER V 

SOUTHWESTERN FRONTIER SERVICE 

Never did mother have more devoted son than did 
the widow of Judge Smith, Mrs. Frances Kirby 
Smith, of St. Augustine, Florida, in her soldier son, 
Edmund Kirby Smith. In his letters to her, together 
with a rather fragmentary journal, we find the 
record of his career, for the nine years subsequent to 
his leaving West Point for the second time — years 
which were spent for the most part on the south- 
western borders of the United States. These letters 
give vivid descriptions of the country and the condi- 
tions of life then existing in that region, and no bet- 
ter account of those years of the writer's life can be 
given than in extracts from these letters. On the 
1 6th of March, 1853, he wrote from Ringgold Bar- 
racks, Texas, that he had been variously occupied, 
scouting after Indians, chasing Carbajal, a noted fili- 
buster of those days, and then enters upon a descrip- 
tion of Ringgold and the adjacent country: 

"The Rio Grande runs here a little south of east, 
is a muddy, rapid stream with low banks, and is about 
one hundred and fifty yards wide. It is extremely 

74 



General Kirby- Smith 

crooked and fanciful in its course; more so than al- 
most any other stream in the world ; at one point, af- 
ter following it around through its winding course 
some twenty or thirty miles, you find yourself within 
stone's throw of the point of departure. In its gen- 
eral features and peculiarities it is a miniature Mis- 
sissippi. Skirting the banks of the river for a short 
distance above Fort Brown to Eagle Pass, a distance 
of nearly five hundred miles, is a strip of land, from 
twenty to thirty miles wide, a perfect desert with 
dry, parched, baked soil, marked in the Physical Atlas 
as a region of no rain, but where in fact some few 
rains do occur in the months of February and March. 
Throughout the greater portion of this region scarcely 
a blade of grass will grow except during the early 
months of spring; but the white lime soil seems ex- 
tremely prolific in various kinds of thorny, spinose 
vegetation. The prickly pear {optnitia) towers up in 
arborescent form to the height of from ten to eighteen 
feet. The melon cactus, cereus and various other 
forms of cactaceae, are scattered over the whole re- 
gion, in some places forming imprenetrable thickets; 
various forms of acacia and mimosa, among which 
our popinac (the Mexican wisache) is prominent 
with an occasional hackberry and mesquite inter- 
mingled with thorny shrubs peculiar to the Mexican 
frontier. One in particular deserves mention: the 
Mexican Jmnco, called by our botanists, wrongly, a 

75 



General Kirby-Smith 

koeberlinia, is a shrub, from four to ten feet in 
height, entirely destitute of leaves, those important 
organs in the vegetable economy, being replaced by 
thorns, and the whole plant is a complete network 
of long green spines. 

''The whole extent of country between this river 
and the Nueces is almost entirely destitute of water, 
except where at some solitary rancho or vacneria 
(herd house) wells have been dug; and it is an ordi- 
nary thing to march thirty or forty miles without 
water. The population is in keeping with the 
country and its productions. The most honest and 
respectable man on the whole frontier, a judge, is a 
runaway forger from Mississippi. Everyone habitu- 
ally carries his six-shooter and Bowie knife; and 
should he use them, it is generally with impunity. 
Courts are a farce. The magistrate and other officers 
are generally professed robbers and smugglers. The 
principal magistrate and the most influential person 
in the neighboring town of Rio Grande City, are 
both professional smugglers and robbers. The former 
is now acting under the commission of Carbajal and 
is organizing a force from among the ranger compa- 
nies and idle desperadoes along the frontier for the 
avowed purpose of plundering and murdering on the 
opposite side of the river. Carbajal, the arch-robber 
and disorganizer, has been for some time a professed 
plunderer. With a force varying at times from 

76 



General Kirby-Smith 

twenty to three hundred men, he has been engaged 
in robbery and murdering. He has no political par- 
ty — no Mexican friends. His followers are almost 
entirely Americans, foreigners and mnlattoes. He 
has completely ingratiated himself with the people 
along the frontier, who are almost without exception 
sympathizers and adherents of his. He is a man of 
middle stature, fair complexioned for a Mexican, per- 
sonally brave but unprincipled; speaks good English, 
and was educated in the United States. The Ran- 
gers, of which three companies have been in the 
service of the State of Texas, have just been dis- 
banded, and have mostly enlisted with Carbajal. 
Though now professed robbers, previous to their dis- 
charge they were but little better — continually plun- 
dering and murdering. But three weeks since, a 
party consisting of a Corporal and eight men at- 
tacked a train of Mexican merchandise, killing the 
merchants and carrying off their mules and goods. 
There was nothing done to these men. 'It was good 
enough for a Mexican ! ' The only persons respected 
and feared on the frontier (yet cordially hated) are 
the officers and soldiers of the army. 

"Our post is opposite Comargo, which is four 
miles back from the river on the San Juan. On the 
American side, the monotonous scenery is relieved 
by a ridge of hills from eighty to one hundred and 
fifty feet high, extending back a short distance from 

77 



General Kirby- Smith 

the river, which gives a varied and changing appear- 
ance to the otherwise unbroken line of the ^horizon. 
The hills are limestone, capped by a stratum of con- 
glomerate, eight to twelve feet thick, which is hori- 
zontal and evidently at one time extended over the 
whole country, but has been washed away. It bears 
evident marks of the denuding power of that great 
ocean which geologists say, at the time of the coal 
formation (the carboniferous period) extended over 
this whole western country. 

"One of these little hills rises up in the midst of 
our parade, and from its top gives a magnificent view 
of the neighboring country. Looking toward Mex- 
ico, the San Juan and Rio Grande are seen through 
their winding courses, while the Sierra Madre and 
Ceralvo Mountains on the right and left, with a broken 
and picturesque outline, are distinctly marked against 
the horizon, or else, blue and faint, fade away in the 
distance. This little hill is our Mount Pisgah, and 
from its summit, in the midst of dryness and desola- 
tion, with the thermometer at ninety-six degrees, the 
rain-clouds can be seen collecting on the tops of the 
distant mountains, fertilizing and refreshing with 
showers the valleys of Monterey and Ceralvo. Our 
quarters are good and commodious, but we can get 
nothing to eat but tough beef and commissary pro- 
visions. Vegetables will not grow. Watermelons 
and pumpkins alone flourish." 

78 



General Kirby- Smith 

On the 1st of June he wrote: 

''The greater portion of my time is passed upon 
the Llanos or prairies of Texas, and in scouting after 
the Indians and filibusters through the chaparrals of 
the Rio Grande. The country both above and below 
this Post has been thoroughly and repeatedly scouted 
over by me, and I have just returned from a ten days' 
trip in the direction of the Nueces, making over sixty 
days in the saddle and more than one thousand miles 
marched over since the 25th of January. Being occu- 
pied during the intervals of my return, as far as the 
excessive heat will allow, in bringing up my papers 
and attending to the other duties of the company. 
I am frequently and suddenly ordered off before my 
letters are written, in pursuit of some imaginary 
party of Indians or freebooters or on the manufac- 
tured trail of depredators. 

"It has been exceedingly hot during the past 
month, the thermometer ranging from ninety degrees 
to one hundred and five in the shade ; the prevailing 
winds, which are from the south, pass for more than 
a hundred miles over a tract of barren, parched and 
desolate country, and sweep by us with all the scorch- 
ing, withering influence of a simoon. Everything is 
dried and burnt up, and the few shrubs and trees 
which exist along this tract of desolation have been 
nearly as completely stripped of leaves as if a New 

79 



General Kirby-Smith 

England frost had performed the operation. We are 
here on the borders of a climate characterized either 
by excessive desolation or a most exuberant vegeta- 
tion, and where under a vertical sun for months, all 
nature seems suspended. How wonderfully, by the 
most opposite means, are the same wise ends of 
Providence effected! Here excessive heat suspends 
all action and growth throughout the vegetable king- 
dom, and that season of rest and repose so necessary 
in the economy of the plant, is as thoroughly effected 
by the scorching sun as by the snows and wintry 
blasts of a northern clime. 

*'In escorting the filibuster chiefs down to Browns- 
ville last April, I had a fine opportunity for visiting 
Fort Brown, which is pleasantly situated, has fine, 
comfortable quarters, a delightful and healthy cli- 
mate and a good market. Every month brings a 
packet steamer from New Orleans, and it is but a 
few hours' ride to the Brazos, where there are fine 
Quartermaster's buildings, delightful bathing and 
plenty of fish and oysters. The sea breeze, regular in 
its daily and refreshing visitations at Brownsville, 
cools the air, while a rich and exuberant vegetation 
charms the eye. The luxuriousness of the latter may 
be judged by the fact that Fort Brown and its vicin- 
ity, which during the war were large ploughed fields, 
are now covered with a dense, and in some places 
almost impenetrable undergrowth. A forest of acacias 

80 



General Kirby-Smith 

(our Florida popinac) covers a large portion of the 
ground, and on the very ramparts of the old fort, trees 
are growing nearly thirty feet high and a foot in diam- 
eter. The hibiscus, some dozen species of verbenas 
and heliotropes, the lantana, our little purple trades- 
cantia and other of our garden and exotic flowers 
carpet the ground; the rich, scarlet clusters of the 
coral plant and the yellow, white and pink blossoms of 
different acacias and mimosas contrast finely among the 
characteristic yet graceful foliage of the Rio Grande 
chaparrals ; while a thousand creepers, convolvuli, four- 
o' clocks, etc., festoon the boughs and hang in grace- 
ful clusters with rich and variegated blossoms from 
the highest tops, and cover the river bottom with a 
dense and almost impenetrable mass of foliage. This 
pictures the lower Rio Grande. Seventy miles above 
and the picture must be reversed. There, beyond 
the influence of the sea breeze, in a region of ex- 
cessive heat, characterized by sand-thorns and cacti i, 
flourish the robber, horse-thief, gambler and filibus- 
ter ; the revolver and Bowie knife reign supreme — 
or did — for our decisiv*e and energetic action 
at Rio Grande City has suddenly, and for the 
present at least, checked the growth of such baneful 
weeds. 

''Filibusterism is now forgotten in the gathering 
tempests and threatening clouds rising along our 
southern horizon which have completely overshad- 



General Kirby- Smith 

owed their movements. Trouble seems preparing for 
us on the other side of the Rio Grande. All signs 
indicate an approaching struggle with Mexico. Santa 
Anna is concentrating at San Luis Potosi, and near 
this frontier, large bodies of troops; and, in addi- 
tion to 26,000 regulars, is arming and organizing 
90,000 citizen soldiery. The officers opposite, who 
used to visit us, and exchanged hospitality with us 
every day or two, have, since Santa Anna's arrival, 
ceased all intercourse, and speak openly and unre- 
servedly of an approaching campaign as a thing de- 
cided upon. The Mexicans (Rancheros) on this side 
have been secretly notified that they can again be- 
come citizens of Mexico in a few weeks. Santa 
Anna is bold, energetic and unscrupulous. He 
knows that war between the two countries cannot 
long be avoided. The movements of filibusters along 
the frontier have already given sufficient cause. He 
must know also that his only hope of successfully re- 
sisting the Yankees consists in restoring the morale 
of his troops and raising the courage and confidence 
of the nation by some successful and brilliant opera- 
tion. He can concentrate from twenty to forty thous- 
and troops on this frontier almost before the people 
of the United States can know what he is about, and, 
overrunning the greater part of Texas, carry the war 
into the enemy's country." 



82 



General Kirby- Smith 

On the 19th of October, Captain Kirby Smith wrote 
from Fort Brown, Texas, that the fortunes of military 
life had at last brought his sister Frances (Mrs. Web- 
ster) and himself together: 

''I arrived," he continued, "at this point a few 
days since in command of a battalion of my regiment 
and am now encamped on the parade with the prospect 
of remaining under canvas this winter. The troops 
have been distributed along this frontier in posts of 
from five to ten companies each — at this place, Ring- 
gold Barracks, Laredo and Eagle Pass. The Colonel 
has been relieved of the command of this post by Major 
Porter, and we have now both Majors of the Fourth 
Artillery at the same post. The impression is that 
one of them will soon be ordered away, the Colonel 
to the United States, or Major Porter up the river. 

"Major Delafield, of the Engineers, and General 
Smith have passed here on their way up the river. 
They have selected a site here for the erection of 
a four-bastioned field fort. We shall be delightfully 
employed this winter, living in tents and digging 
mud forts for the amusement of the Mexicans. We 
all think it a most ridiculous move on the part of the 
Secretary of War, having field works thrown up along 
this frontier. They tend to destroy the moral effect 
of our victories. If intended to preserve peace, they 
will have a contrary result, for the Mexicans are al- 

83 



General Kirby- Smith 

ready exulting in our fears. They are acquiring con- 
fidence, and say that we are afraid of them and may 
soon commit some act of folly which will plunge us 
into war. If intended as an offensive movement on 
our part, they are labor lost, as we should carry the 
war immediately into the enemy's country. Major 
Delafield seems to think the whole operation ridicu- 
lous, and says he will make as small works as he pos- 
sibly can. At Ringgold a small square redoubt is to 
be thrown up, and corresponding works at the upper 
posts." 

The war with Mexico then threatened was averted 
by the overthrow of Santa Anna's dictatorship by the 
Liberal Party in Mexico. On the 5th of November, 
the Captain communicated to his mother the death, 
on the previous day, of his brother-in-law. Colonel 
Webster, of yellow fever. ''The Colonel," he wrote, 
'Svas first taken sick. on Saturday, having been up 
night after night nursing and watching with the dif- 
ferent members of his family." (Three members of 
the family and the servant were ill). "Thursday 
evening I went for the Episcopal minister, Mr. Pass- 
more, and the Colonel participated with the members 
of the family in^.the blessed comforts of the Sacra- 
ment. He gave audibly all the responses, praying 
aloud at the conclusion of the service. A few mo- 
ments later he became delirious and remained so 

84 



General Kirby-Smith 

through all the pains and agonies which always con- 
clude a malignant case of yellow fever. A few min- 
utes before his death, his pains ceased, he became 
quiet and died calmly, with a smile upon his counte- 
nance. He was very much beloved and respected by 
everyone, and every attention and respect was paid 
to him at his burial. All the Mexican officers and 
authorities came over from the Mexican side. We 
are all well now, no new cases of fever have occurred, 
and we hope and believe that the epidemic has en- 
tirely subsided." 

On the 20th of January, 1854, however, he wrote: 

*'The yellow fever has entirely disappeared. A 
heavy frost and severe norther in the early part of 
this month destroyed the last remnants of the disease. 
Nearly every person in the garrison, man, woman and 
child, was attacked, and over one-fifth of the com- 
mand died. I have but just recovered. For several 
days my life was despaired of, and for a month I was 
as helpless as a baby." 

After his recovery, he secured a three months' 
leave of absence for the purpose of accompanying 
his widowed sister to New York; he afterwards 
paid a visit to his mother in St. Augustine. His 
letters to his mother were resumed while en-route 



General Kirby-Smith 

to his command which had in the meantime, removed 
to San Antonio, Texas. On the 30th of June, he 
wrote from the Great Portland Canai, Louisville, Ken- 
tucky : 

"Fast in the mud of this notorious canal and broil- 
ing under ninety-eight degrees of Fahrenheit in the 
shade, I find myself longing for a breath of cool sea 
breeze and thinking this, if not the bright, certainly 
the hot side of my Texas trip. I left New York 
eight days since by the Hudson River and New York 
Central Railroad, stopping three days at Syracuse. 
The train ran off the track, and one day was lost in 
Buffalo; detained two days in Cincinnati and one in 
Louisville, I have the prospective felicity of fishing 
for animalculse and prosecuting extensive microscopic 
investigations in this delightful canal. We crawl 
along slowly, so slowly, indeed, that I believe that, 
like the Irishman's pig, if I were to drive back in the 
other direction towards Cincinnati and take the rail- 
road by the Lake Shore and Chicago to St. Louis, I 
would progress, if not so swimmingly, certainly more 
expeditiously." 

Writing from Fort Smith, Arkansas, on the 20th 
of July, he stated that in twenty days after his former 
letter he had s 
of his journey: 



letter he had succeeded in arriving at the beginning 



86 



General Kirby- Smith 

"The Ohio is very low," he wrote. ''Navigation 
had almost ceased. Yet after lengthened investiga- 
tion of the bars between Louisville and the mouth, 
we were so fortunate as to reach that ultima thule of 
all western travellers, Cairo. There, with the ther- 
mometer ranging from ninety-six degrees to one hun- 
dred and eight degrees, and with mosquitoes and 
kindred pests contending for the spoils, we remained 
(at least some of our passengers did) four days await- 
ing a boat. Final arrangements were making for 
dropping seventy miles down stream to New Madrid 
in skiffs, when the 'St. Nicholas' came puffing down 
the river, our troubles ceased and a healthy state of 
pulse was soon produced by copious administrations 
of ice, mint, etc. 

"I vainly thought it was now to be smooth sailing 
to Fort Smith, but my introduction to Arkansas was 
through four days' detention in Napoleon; and when 
we proceeded, the Arkansas river had fallen so rapidly 
that our boat could get no farther than Little Rock, 
and I was obliged to travel one hundred and fifty miles 
by land to Fort Smith, by a stage route over which 
passengers pay ten cents a pound for bagagge in addi- 
tion to their fare, and have the privilege of walking, 
when their shoulders are not required at the wheel. 
Fort Smith is situated on the line between the In- 
dian reservation and Arkansas, and has delightful 
quarters from which the troops were removed two 

87 



General Kirby- Smith 

months ago, and sent some three hmidred miles up 
into the Indian country. 

"I am now about four hundred miles from my post 
with the prospect of not getting there within two 
months. It is one hundred and ninety miles to Fort 
Washita near the Red River, the road passing 
through the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, a quiet 
and peaceable country, with houses scattered some 
twenty miles apart along the road. From Washita to 
Preston on the Red River is twenty miles, and the 
trail then leads for one hundred and ninety miles 
through a wild and uninhabited country to Belknap. 
This latter part of the route, I shall not travel without 
an escort, though I do not apprehend any danger from 
the Indians. Our thermometer has been ranging from 
ninety-six degrees to one hundred and three degrees 
in the shade for two weeks past and our only comfort 
consists in drinking claret punches and adopting the 
Georgia uniform." 

From camp, near San Antonio, Texas, he wrote on 
the 2nd of October: 

"I have been assigned by orders from Washington 
to the command of the escort to the Boundary Com- 
mission, and am on the eve of marching to El Paso 
where the labors of the Commission begin. Since 
I wrote to you from Arkansas, I have been contin- 



General Kirby-Smith 

ually in the saddle, and have ridden some nine hundred 
miles through Arkansas, the Cherokee and Chicka- 
saw country and through the northern part of Texas^ 
to Fort Belknap, one hundred and fifty miles be- 
yond the line of settlements, and then three hundred 
and sixty miles to San Antonio, where I arrived on 
the ist of October. My trip from Fort Smith 
through the Indian country to the Red River was 
made in the latter part of July and early August with 
the thermometer ranging from ninety-six to one hun- 
dred and four degrees in the shade. What it was in the 
sun and on those dry, scorched prairies, which seem 
so interminably to succeed . each other west of the 
Arkansas, I dare not even guess. I have only the 
dried and shrivelled parchment-like condition of my 
hands and face to measure by. At Fort Washita I 
was detained for some time awaiting an escort, and 
finally travelled the greater part of the way from Red 
River to Fort Belknap alone. Crossing the Red 
River at Preston, the distance to Fort Belknap is 
about two hundred miles, one hundred miles being 
beyond the cross timbers and without the extreme 
line of the settlements. 

''Belknap, which I supposed was to be my destina- 
tion, is a long scattered range of log huts, over half 
a mile in extent in a post-oak grove on the banks of 
the Brazos. It is pleasantly situated and despite its 
straggling and indefensible condition, is a desirable 

89 



General Kirby-Smith 

station. The Brazos is a beautiful though brackish 
stream. The country around is rich in picturesque 
scenery, perfectly healthy and abounds in every de- 
scription of game. I found some of my classmates 
at the post and a fine pack of hounds. The morning 
after my arrival, with Lieutenants Givens and Gum- 
ming, I started out at daylight for a chase. Our dogs 
struck a fresh trail and in the river bottom treed 
some large animal. My companions were at a loss 
to determine the genus of the 'varmint,' but I imme- 
diately recognized in it an immense puma, or Mexi- 
can lion which had strayed up to the Upper Brazos. 
We were without arms excepting a small revolver of 
mine which contained three loads. These were soon 
discharged and, though severely wounded, the villain 
was apparently not much hurt. Bounding from tree 
to tree and levelling a dog with every stroke of his 
paw, he at first seemed inclined to demolish us like- 
wise. Fortunately the noise, our threatening aspect, 
and a good shower of stones, frightened him off. We 
soon drove him to cover again, and while Givens re- 
turned for a gun. Gumming, myself, and the remaining 
dogs, with a respectable pile of rocks, kept him in 
check. After a two hours' fight and without injury 
to ourselves, we finally captured the gentleman. He 
measured nearly eight feet from the head to the tip of 
the tail. Van Amburg says the puma is the fiercest 
and most untamable animal he has ever dealt with. 

90 



General Kirby-Smith 

Bear, deer, cats, foxes, hares, grouse, partridge etc., 
are abundant around the Post. The Comanches, Kio- 
ways, Wacos, etc., are all around the Post, but those 
in its neighborhood have ever been friendly. 

"Three days after my arrival, a dispatch from 
Washington came ordering me with my company to 
San Antonio. Having no alternative but to obey, 
however much I might regret leaving such a pleasant 
neighborhood, I immediately took up the line of 
march, passing for three hundred and sixty miles 
through the most beautiful part of Texas. Following 
the course of the Brazos for one hundred and forty 
miles in a southeasterly direction, we struck the set- 
tlements in the neighborhood of Fort Graham. Then 
by a southerly course, crossing the Guadalupe, Salado, 
and several other streams, and passing through Aus- 
tin, we arrived at San Antonio on the ist of October. 

''For the benefit of some of my Florida friends, 
who may be tired of sand and pine barrens, and who 
may still have energy left to leave the State, I will 
give a brief description of this country. From the 
Red River to San Antonio is the most beautiful tract 
of land I have ever seen ; a limestone country covered 
with a deep layer of rich black vegetable mold in 
most places apparently inexhaustible; well-watered 
with clear, rapid streams crossing in every direc- 
tion; extremely healthy, with a delightful climate. 
Throughout the whole extent a rolling prairie; well 

91 



General Kirby- Smith 

wooded, with oak, elm, pecan, walnut ; and along the 
creeks and streams and in the bottoms, it is probably 
the best stock country on the continent. A rich lux- 
uriant growth of mesquite grass covers the prairies on 
which cattle can graze summer and winter. Forty 
bushels of corn to the acre have been no unusual crop 
in this neighborhood and as much as sixty to the acre 
have been raised this season — an unusually prosper- 
ous one, it is true. Along the road in the neighbor- 
hood of San Marcos below Austin, I saw corn and 
cotton in the fields that would yield at least thirty 
bushels and one bale to the acre. Land about San 
Antonio, the most desirable part of Texas for a resi- 
dence, sells for from three to five dollars an acre, and 
ranges from one to seven, growing less and less as you 
leave the settlements. 

**I leave in a few days for El Paso with the Com- 
mission ; thence west to Santa Cruz on one of the 
tributaries of the Gila, where lies the theatre of 
Major Emory's (the Commissioner's) operations. We 
will be absent at least a year, when I expect to return 
to Washington. Major Emory has offered me the 
Department of Botany, which will require my return 
to Washington for the purpose of making a report. 
I ought to feel gratified at having, without my seek- 
ing, received the appointment to the command of the 
escort, as it is an appointment, which, although its 
duties are arduous and fatiguing in the extreme, has 

92 



General Kirby-Smith 

been much desired and has been applied for by offi- 
cers my seniors in rank, age and service. 

''My health is excellent, and with the exception of 
a severe case of poison which afflicted me for some 
weeks on the road, has never been better. Every 
day in the field strengthens and improves me and I 
seem proof against all the fevers, chills, etc., which 
are the usual accompaniment of a camp life." 



93 



CHAPTER VI 

SOUTHWESTERN FRONTIER SERVICE: WITH 
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION 

The Commission to which Captain Kirby Smith 
was now assigned as escort and botanist, was for the 
determination of the boundary between the United 
States and Mexico, especially under the Gadsden 
Treaty of 1853. Just three weeks after writing the 
letter last quoted in the previous chapter, he set out 
upon the performance of the new duties assigned to 
him ; and his first letter to his mother thereafter was 
written at Camp on Las Moras, near Fort Clark, 
Texas, while on the march to El Paso, on the 31st of 
October, 1854: 

'*I am now camped on a clear, limpid stream of 
crystal water which heads but a few yards above in a 
magnificent spring. A grove of venerable oaks over- 
shadows my tent, furnishing a canopy of green and 
luxuriant foliage, while the waters rippling and mur- 
muring over their pebbly bed, reflect in varied light, 
the rapid and graceful movements of the bass and 
trout sporting in their silvery home. You would 
laugh at my vagaries were I to tell you that this is 
the last jumping-off place of civilization. Yet in- 

94 



General Kirby- Smith 

deed, so it is considered; and Fort Clark on Las 
Moras, looking west toward the bleak plains and 
trackless wastes of the Rio Grande is the last point 
on the great highway to El Paso where the face of a 
white man greets the emigrant on his tedious route. 
Two companies of the First Infantry and one of the 
Rifles are here entrusted with the pleasant duty of 
keeping the Indians in check; though as in the case 
of most of our frontier posts, they appear to have 
been stuck down in a defenseless position for the pur- 
pose of being kept in check by the Indians. The 
Lipans and Tonkaways have for some time been en- 
camped in and around the post, and their grim vis- 
ages and forbidding countenances, as they stalk abou; 
our camp, keep us bright, vigilant, and on the look- 
out. 

**The government in its wisdom has seen fit to 
order the location of the Lipans on the Upper Brazos 
with their inveterate enemies the Comanches. The 
Lipans have remonstrated in vain against being sac- 
rificed to their powerful foe; and though for years 
friendly and our allies in expeditions against the 
prairie tribes, yesterday they stampeded and made 
for the Mexican frontier with all the stock they could 
drive off from the neighborhood of the post. 

**We left San Antonio on the 23rd of October, 
with a train of forty wagons and an attendant suite of 
teamsters, attaches, frontiersmen and savant, travel- 

95 



General Kirby- Smith 

ling west through a beautiful region of country for 
ninety miles to Fort Inge on the Leona. Here a not- 
able change takes place in the character of the coun- 
try. Rich luxurious vegetation, charming valleys and 
placid streams, are succeeded by a rocky, barren soil 
and rapid torrents. The characteristic growths of 
the Rio Grande develop themselves along the hill- 
sides; and mountain ranges now make their first 
appearance. In the neighborhood of Fort Clark, 
thorny bushes, acacias, cactii, the plumed partridges, 
chaparral cock, horned frog and other peculiarities in 
the flora and fauna of New Mexico, become abundant. 
Game is plenty. Nature seems to delight through- 
out these vast wilds, in congregating her feathered 
tribes in immense conserves in proportion to the 
grand scale on which she has laid out the vast wilder- 
ness. Turkeys roost by tens of thousands along the 
streams. Acres upon acres of grass cover the prari- 
ies while different species of quail in countless cov- 
ies, feed along the roadside. We are now about four 
hundred and sixty miles from El Paso, but have a 
wild, desolate region of mountain ranges and track- 
less wastes to pass over, which six years ago had 
never been trodden by the foot of the white man. I 
believe our friends, Baldy Smith and Henry Whiting, 
were the first to pass through this region when they 
made their adventurous trip in '49. We shall proba- 
bly leave day after to-morrow. We are waiting two 

96 



General Kirby-Smith 

days to recruit our animals. We expect to arrive in 
El Paso before the end of November." 



The Baldy Smith and Henry Whiting, mentioned 
in the foregoing letter, were his classmates at West 
Point and were on the Boundary Commission of 1849. 
Captain Kirby Smith has occasion to write more of 
them and of their adventures in his next letter written 
from the Camp below El Paso, on the 15th of De- 
cember : 

''We remained three days at Fort Clark recruiting 
the animals and completing our outfit before launch- 
ing upon that dreary wilderness which extends to El 
Paso. During this time it rained very hard and we 
found the road, which has been termed a natural turn- 
pike, almost impassable. The soil was saturated ; at 
times, on apparently a hard gravelly soil, the mules 
would sink to their flanks and have to be unharnessed 
and hauled out with ropes, and the wagons dragged 
through by hand. In many places detours of several 
miles had to be made over the mountain ridges. 
We were five days going about twenty-five miles; 
and between making roads, playing wagon-master, 
teamster, etc., you may conceive how considerably I 
have been enlarging my experiences. 

"Thus far the country has been characterized by 
clumps of dwarf, thorny chaparral, an entire absence 

8 97 



General Kirby-Smith 

of timber and the same desolation so peculiar to all 
the neighborhood of the Rio Grande. The streams 
are bold, clear, and rapid, abounding in fish, and sub- 
ject to rises which come from the mountains, whose 
isolated peaks from three hundred to eight hundred 
feet high, assimilate this region to all the western 
part of Texas. Descending some four or five miles 
by a deep canon to the San Pedro (or Devil's River, 
as it is appropriately called), we entered upon a region 
wild, grand and desolate beyond anything I have ever 
experienced, and a type, I understand, of a large 
portion of New Mexico and a good deal of the coun- 
try through which the boundary line is to be run. 
''Conceive of a vast plain covered with water — 
or rather, a vast ocean — to have been dried up by one 
of those freaks of elevation or subsidence with which 
Dame Nature seems so freely to have indulged, and 
its surface to have been cut into innumerably deep 
chasms by the retiring currents of water, and you 
can form some conception of the appearance of this 
country. These chasms through a level country are 
termed canons and are characteristic of the country, 
from Fort Clark to the Rocky Mountains. From 
Devil's River to the Limpia Mountains (Sierra Diab- 
los) is one vast network of caiions, more or less intri- 
cately interwoven and varying from three hundred 
to twelve hundred feet in depth. The road winds 
through the caiion of Devil's River, crossing the bed 

98 



General Kirby-Smith 

of the stream seventeen times in the course of twenty 
miles. In some places not much more than one hun- 
dred feet in width, cut through the strata of rock 
from six hundred to eight hundred feet deep, with 
the Devil's stream roaring and tumbling over the rocks 
in its narrow channel and rushing through the dark 
caverns in the limestone cliffs, you can almost imagine 
you are entering the portals of Pandemonium itself. 
''The Pecos, or Puercos (Hoggish), as it is some- 
times called, is about one hundred and fifty miles 
from Devil's River, and a little more than half 
way to the Limpia Mountains. As it has been 
styled by one of our party, it is 'a most sid gejieris 
kind of a stream.' Rising in the Rocky Mountains, 
running more than a thousand miles before it empties 
into the Rio Grande; it is deep, rapid, extremely 
crooked and seldom more than thirty yards in width; 
with dark, turbid, bitter waters. Its banks are inac- 
cessible, except in a few places, in its course through 
Texas. Not a stick of timber, not a bush marks its 
course; not a sign of life; not a moving thing ap- 
proaches its solitary, dreary neighborhood, and you 
may stand within twenty yards of its bank and not 
know that a stream passes through the desolate plain 
before you. The Pecos has always been the great 
bugbear of this route, though not more than eighty 
feet wide at the crossing. We passed our whole 
train without any serious accident. 

99 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Between the Pecos and Limpia, at Comanche 
Spring where we camped, the emigrant route through 
Fredericksburg, the great Comanche War Trail into 
Mexico and the Merchants' route through Presidio to 
Chihuahua, all unite. The Limpia Mountains are a 
volcanic formation with bold, rugged and inaccessible 
peaks from one thousand to four thousand feet high. 
Running north from the Rio Grande, they would 
form an impassable barrier to all further progress 
but for a single pass which winds through them. 
Following the valley of the Limpia, a small stream 
rising in the mountains, the road turns into the Sierra 
at the Wild Rose Pass, where with scarcely more 
than room for the wagons to pass, the basaltic col- 
umns are piled up vertically, behind each other on 
both sides of the road for more than a' thousand feet. 
Beyond, on each side, huge masses of rock are piled 
upon each other for an additional thousand feet. I 
rode through this pass for four or five miles in a con- 
tinual state of excitement and with my heart full of 
the grandeur and sublimity of the scene. I could 
not but think, however, of my friend Baldy Smith 
who passed through here at night, with visions of 
•wild Apaches at his heels. Indeed, the discovery of 
this pass and road is due solely to the daring and 
perseverance of my friends 'Baldy,' Howard, and 
Henry Whiting, who in 1849, with six or eight men, 
were the first white men who had ever ventured into 

100 



General Kirby-Smith 

this region and who succeeded in forcing their way 
through the Apaches and the wilderness to El Paso. 

'* Encamped at the foot of the Limpia Mountains 
through which they had vainly attempted to find a 
practicable pass, they were surrounded by two bands 
of Apaches (Mescaleros and Picarillos). The chief 
of the latter band, Gomez, a renegade Mexican priest, 
celebrated throughout Mexico, said they must die. 
No white man could be allowed to enter those moun- 
tains which were the peculiar land of the Apaches. 
Leaving large fires in their camp, they were led 
through the Wild Rose Pass at midnight by some of 
the Mescaleros, who reported the result of the council 
and sped them safely on through the mountains. 

*'Six miles beyond the pass in ft little canon near 
the head of the Limpia (stream) we found six compa- 
nies of the Eighth Infantry, nearly three hundred 
miles from the settlements and surrounded by moun- 
tains and Indians. They have a delightful prospect 
before them. Several of their families are with them, 
however, and though it is but a few weeks since their 
arrival, they have already made themselves quite com- 
fortable. * 

"From this point to the Rio Grande, nearly one 
hundred and forty miles, there is no permanent water 
for the supply of large trains; and the dried and 

* This is now Fort Davis. 

lOI 



General Kirby-Smith 

shrivelled carcases of animals strewed along the 
hornado bear lamentable witness to the sufferings of 
those who have ventured across, at an unfavorable 
season. We travelled, on several occasions, day and 
night, for thirty-six hours, without water. And the 
grinning countenances of these carcases, preserved 
with all the agonies and contortions of death in that 
dry and elevated region (five thousand feet), were 
no pleasant companions to a day's journey without 
water. 

"Descending nearly twelve hundred feet for six or 
seven miles, through a wild canon, we entered the 
bottoms of the Rio Grande some two thousand miles 
above its mouth. Following the river for seventy 
miles, the first settlement on the American side is 
San Elizario, our present camp. There are two other 
towns between our camp and El Paso (twenty-three 
miles), Isleta and Socorro, with a population in all of 
about two thousand miserable, dirty specimens of the 
Mexicans. The houses are built of adobe (sun dried 
brick); of one story, dirt floor; generally with two 
rooms, a sleeping apartment and a long room or sala, 
without furniture, where the Mexicans squat on the 
floor to receive company. 

*'I was invited to a baile or fandango in San Elizario 
shortly after my arrival. I found a long room (sala) 
devoid of furniture, except at one end where an image 
of the Virgin, a crucifix and several of the tutelary 

I02 



General Kirby-Smith 

saints of the country decked the walls. Under the 
canopy these formed, the ladies were seated a la Tiir- 
que, in rows six or eight deep, an immense phalanx of 
petticoats and starch. The opposite end of the room 
was graced by a table of the El Paso wine and cake, 
where every gentleman was expected to treat his part- 
ner at the rate of six cents a glass. The music struck 
up, when a general rush was made toward the shrine 
of Our Lady by the blanketed gentry who lined the 
sides of the sala; as many bundles of starch and petti- 
coats found their way to the middle of the floor. 
The dance was sui generis. The finale I will not at- 
tempt to describe. My devotions to the shrine were 
soon paid and I wended my way towards the camp. 

"We arrived here on the fifth. Major Emory, the 
Commissioner, proceeded immediately to El Paso and 
left me in command with the general superintendence 
of the Commission. The surveying party is already in 
the field and with the astronomical party, which has 
established its observatory five miles above El Paso, 
will have determined the initial point by the 15th of 
next month. We then move on the line through a 
region which for seventy or eighty miles is said to 
be without a drop of water. 

"My duties with Colonel Emory are very pleasant. 
He treats me with great consideration, consults me 
upon almost every occasion and leaves me quite inde- 
pendent in my command. My company was strength- 

103 



General Kirby- Smith 

ened by a detachment from the First Infantry at Fort 
Clark, and since our arrival here, a company of 
Dragoons has been added to the escort. My duties 
give me constant occupation, for, in addition to 
being Commanding Officer, Quartermaster, Commis- 
ary, etc.. Colonel Emory has appointed me Botanist 
of the expedition. I have been for thirteen days with 
a clerk making out the papers for the quarter, so 
that I have but little time, even if I had the inclina- 
tion, for indulging in the gaities of El Paso society. 
Its wine and its women are alike celebrated." 

Captain Kirby Smith kept a diary of this remark- 
able trip which fills out, to some extent, some of 
the incidents and observations omitted from his let- 
ters. Thus at Commanche Spring, on the i6th and 
17th of November, he wrote in his journal as follows: 

"Here the great war trail of the northern Comman- 
ches and Kioways passes southerly into Mexico. 
Coming from their homes on the Red and the Can- 
adian, by the head waters of the Colorado, across the 
Llano Estacado and the Horse Head crossing of the 
Pecos to the Big Bend of the Rio Grande, their broad 
trail is known as the Camino Ancho of the Comanche. 
Their returning warriors after a" successful foray, are 
sometimes weeks passing this point with their many 
thousand head of captured animals. They carry their 

104 



General Kirby- Smith 

incursions way down into Durango and have made all 
the northern departments of Mexico their tribu- 
taries. The whole northern frontier of that unfortu- 
nate country is almost depopulated ; and where for- 
merly countless herds roamed peaceably and securely 
over the prairie; where flourishing haciendas and 
rich churches provided for their throngs, ruin and 
desolation have succeeded opulence and festivities. 
The thieving Apache and the prowling coyote re- 
main joint masters; the hoarse croak of the raven, 
and the howl of the wild beast have usurped the 
lowing of herds and the merry chime of the church 
bell. The remains of ancient Aztec greatness and the 
massive ruins of the Jesuit stand side by side, mon- 
umental marks of the two great cycles of change in 
that now desolated region. A rich deposit of shells 
and fossils belonging to the cretaceous period is ex- 
posed on the slope of the hill north of the spring. 

''Beyond the Wild Rose Pass exists a vast dog 
town, some thirty miles in extent, stretching around 
the Post (Fort Davis), and desolating the whole 
neighboring country. The prairie-dog usually estab- 
lishes his home in the elevated plains where the 
grama grass abounds, on the roots of which he lives. 
He desolates the whole country and moves his resi- 
dence as soon as the work of devastation is completed. 
The owl and the rattlesnake are his constant atten- 
dants, not in the bonds of amity and good fellowship, 

105 



General Kirby- Smith 

as travellers generally suppose, but as unwelcome 
visitors and invaders of his hearth and home. Provi- 
dence arrests his devastation by making his home 
unprotected from and suitable to his ancestral foes, 
the owl and the rattlesnake." 

After establishing their depot at San Elizario and 
leaving the escort in camp under charge of Lieutenant 
Gumming, Major Emory, the scientific corps, and 
Captain Kirby Smith, moved up to El Paso. The 
entries made in the diary of the Captain are inter- 
esting: 

''Between San Elizario and El Paso, some thirty 
miles, the valley of the Rio Grande widens out into a 
broad alluvial plain of inexhaustible richness and 
easily irrigated. Under the Spanish rule, when the 
laws regulating the irrigation of land were wisely 
made and vigorously enforced, this valley was under 
cultivation and the waters of the Rio Grande, taken 
out some six miles above El Paso, shed their fertiliz- 
ing influence over the lands for ten miles below San 
Elizario. Scattering vineyards and solitary cornfields 
still attest the richness of the soil. But the valley 
of the Rio Grande will never reach its former state of 
agricultural prosperity until the old system of irriga- 
tion is fully restored. 

"The grape is here cultivated as in France and in 

lOD 



General Kirby- Smith 

the vineyards along the Rhine. In yield of fruit and 
in richness and delicacy of flavor, the El Paso grape 
compares favorably with the best varieties of the east- 
ern continent. New Mexico, Lower California and 
Western Texas are all admirably adapted to the cul- 
ture of the grape. The climate is dry and equable, 
and the soil, over large tracts of country, of volcanic 
origin. The wild varieties are numerous and often 
fine flavored. One resembles that from v/hich the 
Chateau Margaux is made; another is no bad imita- 
tion of the far-famed Malaga, and under cultivation, 
all would improve in yield and flavor. Before thirty 
years we may see our cellars stocked with wines from 
these localities, which in variety and delicacy of 
flavor, will compare favorably with those of the most 
famous grape districts of Europe." 

During the months of December, 1854, and January, 
1855, the initial point of the survey was established; 
the El Paso Mountains were surveyed and an effort was 
made to run the parallel across the desert table-land 
stretching west from the Rio Grande. The shifting 
sand hills, which had heretofore rendered that region 
impassable to man and beast, proved an insurmount- 
able obstacle to the progress of the work in that direc- 
tion. Early in February, 1855, Major Emory deter- 
mined to turn to the south of the Sand Hills Desert 
by the Department of Chihuahua; to establish a depot 

107 



General Kirby- Smith 

some hundred miles west in the vicinity of the 
parallel ; to observe for latitude and longitude and thus 
connect the line across the desert with the initial 
point already determined near El Paso. The Com- 
mission accordingly left El Paso on the 6th of Febru- 
ary, 1855, by the old Chihuahua road, and after a 
journey of thirty-two miles through a desolate coun- 
try, reached a water-hole called Samalayuca. There 
preparations were made for crossing the Sand Hills 
which were at that point narrowed down to a strip of 
shifting ridges only four miles in width. Hitching 
twenty-four mules to a wagon, the strip was crossed 
without accident during the nights of the 8th and 9th 
of February, the animals going a day and a night 
without water. Travelling 'thence thirty-two miles, 
the party reached the Salado, a salty, bitter and un- 
certain water-hole, surrounded by incrustations of 
salt and soda and perfectly bare of vegetation. Thirty 
miles further brought the Commission to the Santa 
Maria River, a bold clear stream with some timber on 
its banks, running north and emptying into Santa 
Maria Lake. It was a great resort for bands of the 
Gila Apaches. Another thirty miles brought the 
travellers to the San Pedro mines — the entrance to 
which, near the summit of the mountain, was diffi- 
cult of access. The silver ore from these mines 
was extremely rich, and after smelting was carried 
to the Chihuahua mint for coinage. Fifteen miles 

108 



General Kirby- Smith 

further on, the expedition reached Coralitos, a town 
of fifteen hundred inhabitants on the Coralitos River; 
and twenty-one miles farther brought the travellers 
to Janos. 

Janos was then a town of about six hundred popula- 
tion on the Janos River, a branch of the Coralitos. It 
had once contained six thousand inhabitants, but like 
most of the towns of Sonora and Chihuahua, had 
suffered from Indian incursions and at the time of the 
visit of the Boundary Commission, exhibited but a 
vestige of its former prosperity. Its houses were in 
ruins and its people poverty-stricken. The Com- 
mission left by the Coppermine road running north to 
Fort Webster in New Mexico, but found that the road 
had not been travelled for many years and had been 
so washed in the neighborhood of Janos, that it was 
necessary to make a circuit of twenty-two miles 
around the Janos Mountain (a mound fifteen miles 
from the town), at Lagunita, a salt pond with, springs 
of fresh water on its southern side. Nearly fifty 
miles further on, a camp was selected for a depot, of 
which Lieutenant Cumming was left in command;, 
and Captain Kirby Smith set out with the train for 
Fort Fillmore and Mesilla, in New Mexico, for sup- 
plies. On the first day's march the place was 
reached where Major Emory subsequently established 
his observatory and determined the position of the 
parallel. The trip to Fort Fillmore was accomplished 

109 



General Kirby- Smith 

successfully, though not without hardship and diffi- 
culty, and the business being transacted at the Fort, 
the party set out on its return. Captain Kirby 
Smith made valuable botanical observations and notes 
on his way back and arrived in Janos on the 8th of 
April. Leaving Janos five days later, the Commis- 
sion spent several days at Ojo San Luis, taking obser- 
vations, and then proceeded by way of the caiion of 
Guadalupe to the Valley of San Bernadino, where 
it remained until the 3rd of May, observing for lati- 
tude. Thence it proceeded to Santa Cruz and re- 
mained there for several days to determine the par- 
allel ; and thence went to Los Nogales where the final 
depot and observatory were established and where the 
Commission remained in camp many weeks until the 
completion of the work. 

During the stay at Nogales, Captain Kirby Smith 
made repeated excursions into Sonora and to the 
neighboring mountains, hunting grizzly bear and big- 
horn, meeting with many adventures and having 
some narrow escapes from both red skins and grizzly. 
"One enormous grizzly," he wrote in his diary, 
"which must have weighed from nine hundred to 
one thousand pounds, attacked me when alone and 
on foot in the mountains. I reserved my fire, and 
when he reared up within three feet of me and 
his huge tusks and formidable claws confronted me, 
I thought my last day had come. Kind Providence 

1 10 



General Kirby-Smith 

aided me, and I killed the fellow without receiving a 
scratch." 



On the 1st of August, 1855, Major Emory received 
an order relieving Captain Kirby Smith of the com- 
mand of the escort of the Boundary Commission 
and directing him to report to the Colonel of his reg- 
iment. Major Emory thereupon wrote to the Secre- 
tary of the Interior as follows : 

*'In the discharge of his duty on this Commission, 
Captain Smith has displayed the most untiring en- 
ergy and perseverance. He has been of the greatest 
aid in the successful prosecution of this difficult work; 
and I can do no less than call his admirable con- 
duct to your notice and request you to bring it to 
the notice of the Honorable Secretary of War. I re- 
gret exceedingly that the exigencies of the service 
did not permit him to remain to the close of the work 
now so nearly successfully completed." 

Captain Kirby Smith accordingly returned to the 
East and made a complete report upon his botanical 
observations, which was published in the Smithsonian 
Institution Reports. 



1 1 1 



CHAPTER VII 

SOUTHWESTERN FRONTIER SERVICE; SCOUT- 
ING WITH THE SECOND CAVALRY 
UNDER LEE 

The Secretary of War, to whose notice the letter 
of Major Emory, quoted in the previous chapter, was 
brought, was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, who 
was then organizing a new regiment of cavalry, in 
the constituency of which unusual care was taken in 
the selection of officers. The choice was dictated not 
merely by ability but also by locality. Of the fifty- 
one officers who served in this regiment prior to the 
Civil War, thirty-one were from the South, and twenty- 
four entered the Confederate service. Twelve became 
General Officers. 

There is no lack of suspicion at the present day that 
this constituency of the Second Cavalry Regiment 
was in anticipation of and in preparation for the great 
struggle which was then beginning to loom up in 
the distance. Captain Edmund Kirby Smith was 
promoted to a captaincy in this regiment and wrote 
the details thereof to his mother from Jefferson Bar- 
racks, on the 20th of October, 1855: 

"My promotion has been so great and unexpected, 
and so high a compliment has been paid me in pro- 

1 12 



General Kirby-Smith 

moting me, unsolicited, from the Infantry to a high 
rank in the Cavalry, that I feel that all my energies 
should now be given to the organization of my regi- 
ment and to assisting to infuse a proper tone and mil- 
itary spirit into a corps, which frontier service and 
New Mexican habits have completely demoralized. 
Colonel Johnston is a man of great talents and ability 
and of good common sense. He has great influence 
with the administration and is determined to make 
the Second Cavalry the Regiment of the Army. He 
was a classmate of Kirby's, and is inclined to be a 
good friend to me. Colonel Lee, the most accompli- 
shed officer and gentleman in the army, was the Su- 
perintendent of the Military Academy during my stay 
in the Mathematical Department. Colonel Hardee, 
the model drill and duty officer of the mounted ser- 
vcie, is your good friend. Major Thomas, an old and 
esteemed friend, was Colonel Webster's Lieutenant 
at the battle of Buena Vista. With such field offi- 
cers and company officers, of which your harum- 
scarum boy is the least deserving, you may imagine 
what we expect to do with our regiment after a year's 
discipline. Our horses average $150 in value. Our 
men are principally Americans. My company was 
enlisted in the mountains of Virginia by my First 
Lieutenant, Walter Jenifer, an old classmate of Ben- 
jamin Hallowell's and West Point memory. Bud 
Wood, grandson of General Taylor, was attached as 

9 113 



General Kirby-Smith 

Second Lieutenant to the Company by his father's 
particular request. 

"We march for Texas on Thursday next and will 
probably camp this winter on the Llano, where Colo- 
nel Johnston proposes moving to the Wichita 
Mountains on Red River. There, in one large 
camp, we can keep up our instruction and scout 
through the ranges of the Comaches and Kioways 
along the frontiers of Texas. We are all working 
hard, breaking in ourselves, men and horses. From 
daylight to sundown we have barely time to eat a 
hasty meal." 

It was indeed a remarkable body of officers in the 
Second (afterwards the Fifth) Cavalry. President 
Pierce had appointed to the Colonelcy of the regi- 
ment, Albert Sidney Johnston, whom General Taylor 
had called the ''best soldier he had ever commanded," 
and whose appointment to this Colonelcy, General 
Scott declared was *'a godsend to the army and the 
country." Robert E. Lee was Lieutenant Colonel, 
and the Major Thomas whom Captain Edmund Kirby 
Smith mentioned in his letter to his mother just 
quoted, was afterwards Major General George H. 
Thomas, the greatest officer in the Federal army. 
The other Major was William J. Hardee, afterwards 
Major General Hardee of the Confederate army. 
The regiment furnished also from its official staff 

114 



General Kirby-Smith 

Generals Earl Van Dorn, John B. Hood, Fitzhugh 
Lee, Innis Palmer, Emory, Oaks, Stoneman, Field, 
Garrard, Cosby, Lomax, Major, Byrnes, "Shanks" 
Evans, and R. W. Johnson. Theodore O'Hara, the 
gifted author of the "Bivouac of the Dead," was at 
one time a member of the regiment. 

The very best horses were obtained, purchased 
chiefly in Kentucky, for this regiment at an average 
cost of ;^i5o apiece, which was then the equiva- 
lent of double that amount now, and these were the 
best mounts the regiment ever had. Several patterns 
of carbines were in use, with Colt's revolvers and sa- 
bres. The uniform adopted at first was the close fit- 
ting jacket, trimmed with yellow braid; silk sash; 
black hat looped up at the side with an eagle, and os- 
trich feather plumes. Brass scales, intended to turn 
the sabre strokes of the enemy, were proA^ded for the 
shoulders, but were worn only for full dress. Boots 
or gauntlets were not worn. 

As to the dicipline of the officers and men in 
the Second Cavalry on the Southwestern frontier, a 
very good description may be read between the lines, 
if not in the lines themselves, of letters written by the 
Captain to his mother, which not only relate the 
career of the writer for the next few years, but also 
show how the soldiers of that regiment were trained 
for the great struggle between the North and the 
South in the years 1861 to 1865. The first of these 

115 



General Kirbv- Smith 

letters was written at Fort Gibson, Indian Reserve, 
on the 30th of November, 1855: 

"'We arrived here day before yesterday after a most 
disagreeable march through the state of Missouri. 
The Department has been experimenting upon us as 
new and picked troops, and has ordered us off on a 
march of more than one thousand miles without 
transportation. We are to subsist upon the country 
passed over; the men to carry their kit, blankets, etc., 
upon their horses. A succession of cold rains and 
snows has been very severe upon the command. In- 
deed in the whole course of my military experience I 
have never seen men suffer more than our troops have 
in this march from Jefferson Barracks. We are still 
about six hundred miles from our probable destina- 
tion on the Llano where we expect to arrive some time 
in February. Hardee, our gallant Major, is in excel- 
lent spirits and gains in flesh every day of the march. " 

From Fort Chadbourne, Texas, he wrote on the 17th 
of June, 1S56: 

''I arrived here yesterday with two companies of 
my regiment and joined a force from Camp Cooper 
under command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, for the 
purpose of operating against the Comanches. We 
leave tomorrow with one month's supplies and will 

116 



General Kirby-Smith 

scour the country along the headwaters of the Con- 
cho, Colorado and Brazos Rivers. 

"The Comanches, a band of some two hundred 
warriors, under Sanico, have lately given considerable 
trouble and committed several murders on the fron- 
tier. A collision took place a few days ago at the 
post in which nine Indians were killed. Captain 
Eastman, the commanding officer, had his quarters 
riddled with bullets. Several were killed in his front 
and back rooms in which a regular melee took place 
between some of the officers and the sub-chiefs. The 
Indians have since taken the alarm and are probably 
ere this on their wav towards the R.ed and Canadian 
Rivers. A long and tedious march through a barren 
countr}' at an extremely disagreeable season of the 
year will probably be the only result of our e?^pedition. 
My health is good and I despair of getting out of the 
country on sick leave. But, unless something unex- 
pected happens, I shall get a leave next January. 
Colonel Hardee has just received orders for West 
Point and you will probably see him on the way to his 
station." 

From Fort Mason, Texas, on the 3i5t of July, 
1856, he wrote the results of the expedition against 
the Comanches: 

'T have just returned after a six weeks' absence on 
the headwaters of the Brazos and Colorado Rivers. 

117 



General Kirby- Smith 

The expedition started in the early part of June under 
the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee in the hopes 
of capturing the renowned Sanico and his party of 
Comanches. As has been the case with all large ex- 
peditions against the nomadic tribes on our western 
prairies, we travelled through the country, broke down 
our men, killed our horses, and returned as ignorant 
of the whereabouts of Mr. Sanico as when we started. 
Our expedition, however, has not been fruitless. 
We have explored some new country and increased 
our knowledge of the character and geography of the 
land, and established such facts regarding the nature 
of the country as will, I trust, prevent the sending 
of many more expeditions in that direction. 

"We found the country a dry and barren desert; 
the grass was all parched up and the ground covered 
with an efflorescence of soda and salt. The water 
was generally salt, bitter and unpalatable ^ a com- 
pound of Epsom and Glauber salts and salts of mag- 
nesia and lime. Immense beds of gypsum crop out 
along the arroyas, and the banks of the streams are 
white with the crumbling and disintegrated sulphate 
of lime. We were providentially favored throughout 
our whole trip and thus saved much pain and suffer- 
ing. We had one or two heavy rains in a proverbially 
dry country during the dry season, and we found 
temporary puddles of rain water on the mountain tops 
where we otherwise would have lost our animals. I 

ii8 



General Kirby- Smith 

returned in good health and with my squadron am 
stationed at Fort Mason under command of Major 
George H. Thomas, late of the Artillery." 

From the same post he wrote on the ist of Septem- 
ber, 1856, having just returned from a trip to the south- 
ern border of the Llano Estacado and the heads of the 
Llano and Guadalupe Rivers: 

''After having been out on the plains and wilds of 
Texas for more than two weeks, without change of 
clothes, without having seen a soul and without hav- 
ing undressed except for a hasty bath in some water 
hole, to return to the comforts of even a temporary 
home is a luxury indeed. 

"The change is great from the quiet, comfortable 
life of the infantry soldier to the wild roving life of 
privation of the dragoon. Then you had your little 
library, could read, could accumulate comforts and 
luxuries around you and live like a civilized being 
and a Christian man. Now, the heavens are your 
canopy, or a fluttering canvas stretched under some 
tree is your home, the green sward your couch. 
Your luxuries are a bear hunt and a mile-and-re- 
peat horse race; and if you love books and eschew 
whiskey, your education will have been sadly neg- 
lected. But do not be alarmed. I shall never become 
a bear, though I may love the bear hunt. I shall 

119 



General Kirby-Smith 

never drink whiskey though I be a dragoon. I may 
live in a tent but I shall never give up my books 
nor the refining influences of an intelligent mind. 

''Our duties here are extremely arduous. We are 
constantly scouting, move rapidly without equipage, 
sleep in the open air with our horse-blanket for a bed 
and saddle for a pillow. Pork, flour and coffee, with 
game, are our only subsistence. In our habits we are 
almost as nomadic as the Bedouin of the plains, feed- 
ing our horses on the scattered grass of the prairies 
and depending principally upon our own executions 
for our subsistence. 

''There are now scarcely any Indians left in Texas 
excepting those on the reservation near Camp Cooper. 
Occasional straggling bands of Comanches from the 
upper Red and Canadian Rivers depredate upon the 
frontier of Texas. They come on foot in parties of 
three or four, skulk around the settlements and in the 
first unguarded moment, stampede the stock and then 
travel day and night until they think themselves safe 
from pursuit. It is only by adopting their mode of life, 
and whilst on scout, assimilating ourselves to their 
habits, that we can operate successfully against them. 

"Major Thomas leaves here to-morrow or next day 
for Ringgold Barracks. He will be absent two or 
three months on the trial of Giles Porter, and leaves 
me in command of the post. My duties will proba- 
bly confine me to the garrison during his absence. 

1 20 



General Kirby- Smith 

"I wish you could see me in scouting costume. 
Mounted on my mule — (the dearest, gentlest and 
most intelligent brute, — small but round, fat as a 
dumpling, with sleek coat, bright eyes and two well 
developed and expressive ears, actively moving in every 
direction and speaking as plainly as an alphabet); 
corduroy pants; a hickory or blue flannel shirt, cut 
down in front, studded with pockets and worn out- 
side; a slouched hat and long beard, cavarly boots 
worn over the pants, knife and revolver belted to the 
side and a double barrel gun across the pommel, com- 
plete the costume as truly serviceable as it is unmili- 
tary. Mules we find more intelligent and enduring 
than horses. On my last scout, with ten men, I rode 
seventy-five miles in twenty-six hours, rested my 
mules five or six hours, let them pick a little grass, 
and started back with the mules apparently as fresh 
as ever. ' ' 

There was no part of Texas which Captain Kirby 
Smith did not explore and know thoroughly. In 
1858, he took the long leave of absence to which 
he was then entitled, and in May sailed from 
Boston for a visit to Europe. But even as he 
started he began to feel that it was perhaps selfish 
in him thus to enjoy himself and he thought of re- 
turning in August. He took his full leave of ab- 
sence, however, made a tour of Wales and England, 

121 



General Kirby- Smith 

and then went to the continent. European travel 
was not as common then as it is now, and the care- 
fully preserved notes he made of his travels in France, 
Germany, Austria, and Italy, show the traveller of 
1858 to have been, as ever, a careful observer and an 
interested beholder. He returned to America and 
rejoined his regiment at Camp Radziminski, New 
Mexico. In a letter to his mother from Fort Smith, 
en route to his regiment, written on the 7th of 
March, 1859, he stated that he had been very fortu- 
nate in his journey up the Arkansas, having ''found 
a good stage of water and an excellent boat," and had 
arrived at Fort Smith without detention, while the 
steamer in advance of his was snagged and sunk and 
lost everything, and the one following his was burned 
to the water's edge. From Fort Smith he jour- 
neyed on horseback for four weeks, arriving in Camp 
Radziminski on the 14th of April. The camp was 
on the south slope of the Wichita Mountains, about 
one hundred and fifty miles from the head of Red 
River and about four hundred miles west of Fort 
Union, in New Mexico. It was surrounded by moun- 
tains. The captain thus described the location to his 
mother: 

"Vast plains stretch away to the west and south, 
covered with countless herds of buffalo, while the 
big-horn and elk roam the mountains to the north. 

122 



General Kirby- Smith 

It is a bleak, cold section of country here, consider- 
ably elevated above the sea and right on the line of 
the trade winds, which blow a gale nine months of 
the year. We still have frost, and four days since it 
froze quite hard. We have six companies of Cavalry 
and one of Infantry and are now preparing for a grand 
expedition to the Canadian and Arkansas Rivers 
through a section of country entirely unexplored and 
hitherto known only to the Comanche and Kioway 
Indians." 

Mail was received at the camp weekly from a point 
two hundred miles distant, being brought by a party 
of soldiers on mules, and these weekly mails were 
the only connection of the Camp with the civilized 
world. The proposed expedition mentioned by the 
Captain in his letter to his mother, comprised the 
whole command, six companies of Cavalry and fifty- 
four friendly Indians, about four hundred men in all, 
and set out on the 30th of April. Major Earl Van Dorn 
described as ''a gallant and efficient officer who had 
defeated the Comanches near Camp Radziminski the 
previous September," was in command, with Captain 
Kirby Smith as second. The officers and men 
scouted in Indian style without tents, every man car- 
riyng his blanket and change of clothes on his saddle. 
Captain Kirby Smith wrote before setting out, *'I 
am beset by the friendly Indians who arrived two days 

123 



General Kirby- Smith 

since. If they fight as effectually as they beg, they 
will prove a valuable addition to our command." 

The great event of the expedition was the historic 
fight of Nessentunga (or Nescatunga) on the 13th of 
May, 1859. Although wounded in the fight, Captain 
Kirby Smith v>^rote to his mother the next day, and 
on the 2nd of June wrote from Camp Radziminski 
the following interesting account of the battle: 

"Our command returned to this camp on the 31st 
of May, and the fine bracing air of this mountain 
region is rapidly restoring the health of our wounded. 
Even my Lieutenant, Fitzhugh Lee, who was shot 
under the right arm by an arrow which passed 
through both lungs, is fast convalescing. My own 
wound, though inconveniencing me but little, might 
have been serious. I was shot by an Indian standing 
a few feet in front of me, the 'ball passing through 
the upper part of the thigh, just missing the large 
artery and making a wound about four or five inches 
through. I continued in the saddle, giving the litter 
made for me, to one of my sick men (and had the 
satisfaction of probably saving his life), and rode into 
camp on the i8th day after the fight, with my wound 
healed up and almost well. 

"By giving you a summary of our scout, you can 
form some ideas of our duties on this frontier, and 

124 



General Kirby-Smith 

you will see that in hardships, exposures and self- 
denials, our service is without a parallel in any 
country. Our horses last winter subsisted for a long 
time solely on the bark of the cotton-wood tree, the 
ground being covered with snow ; and the men living 
in tents and exposed to all the severities of this hy- 
perborean region. We keep out scouts winter and 
summer and in our expeditions. With all the wants 
and desires which civilization brings in her train, we 
actually move with fewer comforts and necessities 
than the savages who roam the plains in a state of 
nature. Our men carry no tents or shelter winter or 
summer. One blanket and their ration of pork, flour, 
coffee, sugar and salt, reduced to a minimun, is their 
allowance. With their saddles for pillows and the 
heavens for a canopy, they brave all the vicissitudes 
of a changeable climate; and lie out soaked with 
rain, for fifteen days in every thirty (as they did on 
our last scout), without a murmur or complaint. 

"Our command (six companies of cavalry) about 
four hundred strong, left camp on the 30th of May, 
with an auxiliary force of forty-six Indians — Wacos, 
Caddos, Delawares, Tonkaways, Kechis, and Tehua- 
canas. Our allies, dressed up in all the finery of 
paint and feathers, promised loudly and recounted 
most heroic deeds of bravery they had in prospect; 
but once on the hunting grounds of the dreaded Com- 
anche, they subsided, and in the most quiet and sub- 

I'25 



General Kirby- Smith 

missive manner accompanied our column, and were 
never seen beyond gunshot of our camp, unless duly 
escorted by a cavalry force. 

"We are here a little south of the parallel of Wash- 
ington in about the one hundredth degree of longitude 
west, and some two thousand feet above the sea. Our 
fight was more than two hundred miles from here, a 
little west of north, and nearly fourteen miles south of 
Fort Atchison [now abandoned], where the Indepen- 
dence and Santa Fe trail crosses the Arkansas. After 
leaving Camp we followed up through the mountains, 
a little tributary of Red River for forty-five miles 
(Elk Creek), and crossing the divide, travelled thirty 
miles through herds of Buffalo to the Washitaw. 
Here one of our parties captured an Indian boy, who, 
with two warriors, it appears, was on the way to re- 
connoiter our camp in the Wichita Mountains. Our 
prisoner informed us that five days' north, near a 
large salt creek running east, were two camps; one 
ten miles long, of sixteen hundred lodges ; the other 
of two hundred lodges; that the Kioways and the six 
bands of Comianches were all there, and had been 
discussing the alternative of war or peace. This, if 
true, gave a force of nine or ten thousand Indians — 
the lodge always holding at least five men, women 
and children. 

"The excitement now became general, for our lit- 
tle Major, taking the boy for a guide, and promising 

126 



General Kirby- Smith 

to shoot him if he lied or misled us, pushed on for the 
Indian camp; and we knew he would charge twenty 
thousand Indians with as much sang froid as he 
would twenty. On the second day, thinking our- 
selves within striking distance, we marched until 
three o'clock in the afternoon and halted to rest and 
cook our dinner. Here, in a grand council, our 
Major announced his determination, by a forced 
march that night, to surprise the enemy's camps, 
attacking the larger camp first. The final orders 
were given, and the left wing was placed under my 
command. We marched all night in a violent 
thunderstorm, in almost Egyptian darkness, and over 
a country cut up by hills, ravines and precipices. 
Daylight found no enemy in our neighborhood, and 
our guide, upon being questioned, stated that it was 
still three days' to the camp. 

"Camping that day on the South Canadian we 
found the river up, a full half-mile across and about 
ten feet of water in the channel. Next day, fording 
the river (which had fallen considerably during the 
night), our little guide conducted us nearly due north, 
across the North Canadian and Red Fork of the Ar- 
kansas and the Cimmaron. On the Cimmaron, soon 
after lighting our bivouac fires, we were encouraged 
by living evidences of Comanches. The alarm was 
given, and in a skirmish with a small party of In- 
dians reconnoitering our camp, one Comanche was 

127 



General Kirby- Smith 

killed. The excitement became intense. Our guide 
said we were near the Grand Camp, and the Major to 
lighten the burden of our animals directed a portion 
of the provisions cached until our return. Marching 
some thirty miles north, our guides conducted us to 
the camp. The Indians had taken the alarm and had 
been gone for several days. From the signs and 
the number of lodges (the camp extending several 
miles along the stream), they had evidently been in 
force some two thousand. Soon after we had lighted 
camp fires our spies brought news of Indian trails in 
abundance ; the larger and fresher about four days 
old, going north, and from the signs indicating a force 
of nearly two hundred. Now within thirty miles of 
Arkansas and in the heart of the Comanche country, 
we anticipated a speedy fight. 

**The weather had been cold, it had rained and 
the men had slept in wet clothes nearly every night 
since leaving Radziminski. Next morning (the 13th) 
taking the larger trail, we pushed on in a northerly 
course in a continued storm of rain and sleet. 
Marching twenty-one miles, we halted to rest and 
graze our horses. Soon the alarm was given, and 
three Indians showed themselves on the hill above. 
A party saddled, and under Lieutenant Royall, 
gave chase. Soon the camp was again raised by the 
cry that Lieutenant Royall was engaged with a large 
force of Indians and needed assistance. In a few 

128 



General Kirby- Smith 

moments we were in the saddle, and in a driving 
rain, dashing at a headlong pace, over hill and 
through ravine, to the conflict. A race of three 
miles brought us to the scene. The Indians had en- 
sconced themselves in a tangled thicket and woods 
lining a ravine through which a little stream, called 
the Nescatunga, wound its way. Lieutenant Royall 
had surprised and secured their horses ; and the war- 
riors, instead of escaping as their squaws urged, 
strung their bows and determined to sell their lives as 
dearly as possible. 

"My company was one of the first on the ground, 
and dismounting my men, I dashed into the thicket 
after the Florida style of bush-fighting, and was shot 
before I had gone twenty yards; but I pushed on 
with my men until the recall sounded. The fight 
lasted but a short time, when the Indians, to use a 
western expression, 'were literally wiped out.' 
Forty-nine dead were counted in the space of one 
hundred yards, and thirty-six prisoners were taken 
— six men and thirty women. Of the thirteen killed 
and wounded of our command, six wounded were 
in my company — myself, my lieutenant, two ser- 
geants and two men. The Indians were reached by 
forcing our way through a thick and tangled under- 
brush, and we would have lost a great many men had 
not the continued rain rendered the Indians' weapons 
almost useless. 

lo 129 



General Kirby- Smith 

''I must apologize for the long yarn I have spun out 
on such small capital." 

Shortly after this, Major Van Dorn, who was also 
wounded by an arrow in the fight of the 13th of May, 
was relieved and sent to San Antonio, and Captain 
Kirby Smith remained at Camp Radziminski in com- 
mand of the Wichita Expedition. Operations in the 
field, however, were temporarily suspended, owing to 
difficulties arising between the Indians on the Texas 
reservation and the citizens. Five companies were 
moved down from Camp Radziminski, by forced 
marches, for the protection of the reservation, but the 
citizens dispersed. Captain Kirby Smith enjoyed 
the beautiful scenery, the luxuriant vegetation and 
cool, bracing air of the mountain region in which his 
camp was located. For two months he traveled 
about the Wichita Mountains exploring the surround- 
ing country. When the expedition was broken up in 
the Fall of 1859, he was very glad, for since the ist 
of April in that year, he and his men had lived on 
soldiers' rations, ''without a vegetable or fruit to 
keep off scurvy ; and visions of eggs, chickens and 
milk disturbed his slumbers and disappointed his 
waking hours." In September, he wrote to his 
mother from Camp Radziminski : 

''I am still at this Camp, but am daily in expecta- 
tion of the train of wagons which will carry my com- 



General Kirby- Smith 

pany to Camp Cooper. It will bring me some one 
hundred and fifty miles nearer the settlements, but in 
a very undesirable section of country. Cold and 
bleak in winter, hot and sultry in summer, it is re- 
garded as one of the most forlorn posts in the de- 
partment, without even the advantage of log huts 
to recommend it. Cooper has heretofore been the 
agency for the Texas Indians, but owing to the re- 
cent troubles, the reservation has been abandoned 
and the Indians removed some two hundred miles 
north to the Washitaw, near the Kansas boundary. 
The post (or rather camp, for the troops are under 
canvas), is still kept up, and nine companies of infan- 
try and cavalry compose the garrison. Major Thomas, 
our Major, who was Lieutenant in Webster's Battery 
at Buena Vista, commands. 

''Lieutenant Jenifer, my old First Lieutenant, has 
been retransferred to my company, and with Lieuten- 
ant Fitz Lee and myself compose the officers of the 
Camp. Jenifer was an old schoolmate at Benjamin 
Hallowell's, a classmate at West Point and comrade 
in the Mexican War, where he was Captain of the 
Third Dragoons. I am fortunate in having two of 
the most high-toned gentlemen in the regiment for 
my lieutenants. Major Thomas, on the ist of next 
month, goes out with five companies of cavalry on 
an expedition against the Comanches. As my com- 
pany will probably be at that time en route for 

131 



General Kirby- Smith 

Cooper, it is not likely to form part of the expedition. 
Major Thomas goes up to the head-waters af the 
Canadian among the spurs of the Rocky Mountains, 
and will be absent six or eight weeks." 

On the 1st of November, the Captain wrote from 
Camp Cooper: 

** Since my arrival at this place I have been very 
busy, under canvas, with all the trouble of six com- 
panies on my shoulders, and alternately shaking and 
sweating with intermittent fever. 

''I arrived here and took command on the 3rd of 
October. Major Thomas, with the headquarters of the 
regiment and five companies, left the day previous on 
an expedition to the head-waters of the Red and 
Canadian Rivers. All the women of the regiment, 
some one hundred and fifty broken-down horses, and 
fifty or sixty broken-down men and women add to 
the trouble and responsibility (rather than to the 
"efficiency) of my command. I must not forget the 
band, the only redeeming feature of the whole, which 
under the leadership of Mr. Kreutzer (formerly leader 
at the Academy of Music, New York), discourses 
good music three times a day. Major Thomas, on 
his return, goes north on a ten months' leave of ab- 
sence. 

"This will leave me the senior on duty with the 

132 



General Kirby- Smith 

regiment, and unless Colonel Lee or Hardee are or- 
dered to their regiment, will leave me in command for 
several months. Lieutenant Lee is the only officer 
now at the post with me. Mr. Jenifer, if rumor 
speaks true, is bound, with an eight months' leave in 
his pocket, on some grand matrimonial speculation. 

"Fifty miles west of Belknap, and about eighty 
miles beyond the line of settlements, is an elevated 
region of bare, rocky hills, open to the north winds 
which sweep over the central plateau of the continent 
three-fourths of the year. Sheltered by a bluff in the 
bottom of a little stream called the Clear Fork of the 
Brazos, and in one of the most dreary spots of this 
dreary section, Camp Cooper is located. Our tents 
are on pickets, which we haul nine miles, and our 
water, which flows down the Clear Fork from those 
inexhaustible gypsum beds west of us, supplies in our 
daily draughts, specifics for all the ills to which hu- 
man nature is here subject. Epsom and Glauber 
salts can be had in any quantity and free of charge ; 
and, from the taste, I should not be astonished to find 
it a pharmacopoeia for all the drugs in the Medical 
Department. 

''Colonel Hardee, with four companies of our regi- 
ment, first camped here, seeking shelter in the winter 
of '55, from a severe norther. And with that mag- 
nificent inertia which characterizes some of our army 
movements, here we've stuck. But I won't abuse 

133 



General Kirby- Smith 

the place. There may be worse in store for us. 
Wolves still exist in this region — further west they 
disappear — and the limestone rocks and gypsum beds 
of the Great Staked Plain may be too indigestible, 
even for the stomachs of Uncle Sam's soldiers. The 
overland mail passes within four miles of us, and is in- 
deed a great convenience. Your last letter was only 
eleven days from St. Augustine, via Memphis. The 
overland mail passes twice a week each way. There 
are stations established from fifteen to thirty miles 
apart throughout the route, and the carriers travel 
day and night at the rate of seven or eight miles an 
hour. Their carriages pass over the desolate region 
between Belknap and the Pacific, often with only the 
driver and conductor; and, without exception, have 
always passed unmolested by Indians. . . Forgive 
my complaining strain, but the wind whistles about 
my ears and the dust blows around my eyes till I am 
scarcely responsible for anything I write." 

The Captain was removed to a more desirable loca- 
tion within a few weeks, and wrote from Camp Colo- 
rado, on Christmas Eve, 1859: 

"I am now stationed here, with two companies of 
my regiment, and I hope permanently. The change 
is a desirable one. We have comfortable quarters, 
though built of pickets, and we are eighty miles 

134 



General Kirby- Smith 

nearer the settlements than we were at Cooper. The 
Post is prettily situated in a grove of oaks, on a lit- 
tle stream emptying into the Colorado River. It is 
eighty miles south of Belknap, forty from the line of 
settlements, and two hundred northwest of San 
Antonio. The country around us is hilly, with open 
glades of mesquite dotting the immense forest of post- 
oak, which stretches for miles to the north and 
west. Game is abundant; the woods are full of deer, 
the streams are filled with ducks and geese, and tur- 
keys roost by thousands within a few miles of the 
Post. Yesterday evening I brought in six fine tur- 
keys from a roost within fifteen minutes' ride of the 
Post, where there were more than a thousand turkeys 
within a space two hundred yards square. Teal and 
mallard we have been shooting within a few hundred 
yards of the quarters, and hams of fat venison hang 
around the kitchen door. 

**I wish I could stock your larder for the Christmas 
holidays, and receive in return some butter and eggs. 
Of the latter commodities, and milk and vegetables, 
there is a perfect dearth. Our Christmas will be a 
dry one, without a glass of egg-nog to celebrate it 
with. Our nomadic life and continual shifting of 
home cuts us off from all luxuries. It is true, modern 
inventions give us a portable garden in the shape of 
canned and dessicated vegetables ; but how I should 
relish a dish of ripe tomatoes, some old-fashioned 

^3S 



General Kirby- Smith 

boiled potatoes, or a generous pile of smoking roast- 
ing-ears ! 

''Our winter here has been unusually severe. The 
ground has been covered for several days with snow 
and sleet. One of the severest northers of the season 
caught me out thirty miles from the Post. We for- 
tunately found shelter under a large bank, where 
there was plenty of wood, and with a demijohn of 
whisky, which was in the party, we kept up suf^cient 
animal heat to weather the night through; though 
some of our party were frost-bitten, and a teamster, 
who got up in the night, was found frozen to death 
next morning. These northers come up suddenly, 
and often without 'premonitory symptoms,' and when 
accompanied with sleet and snow, are dangerous 
visitors." 

A fortnight later, the Captain wrote from the same 
post: 

"I am comfortably situated here, at least for the 
frontier. My quarters are pleasant and furnished in 
good style ; but we are all bachelors, beyond the reach 
of the luxuries of civilization, and sadly feel the lack 
of the refining influences of feminine society. My 
company is alone at the Post, the mounted troops 
having been mostly moved down on the Rio Grande 
frontier. 

136 



General Kirby-Smith 

"The Indians keep us busy; and, in small parties, 
are constantly depredating on the settlements. We 
are continually in the saddle, and have broken down 
and used up our horses in pursuing them. Between 
Fort Mason and Red River, there is a line of 
more than four hundred miles, covering one of the 
richest stock countries in the world ; and, with but 
two companies of my regiment for its protection — 
my company at this post and Major Thomas, with one 
company, at Cooper. Thousands of animals are car- 
ried off, and with our utmost endeavors, we but oc- 
casionally meet with success in checking these depre- 
dations. Our men, too, are perfect Cossacks. They 
ride day and night, carry from seven to ten days' pro- 
visions on their backs, sleep out on their saddle 
blankets in cold and rain without a murmur, and make 
their rifles subsist them almost entirely on their expe- 
ditions. 

"A few days since. Lieutenant Lee with a party of 
my company, after riding seventeen hours through 
rain and sleet, overtook some marauding Indians, re- 
covered all the stolen animals and killed two warriors 
who were driving the cavallado. One of the Indians 
was followed by Lee into a cedar brake, where after a 
two hours' search, he discovered his presence by find- 
ing Mr. Indian on his (Lee's) back. He had leaped 
from behind a rock. The two struggled and rolled 
over for some minutes with doubtful results, the 

137 



General Kirby- Smith 

Indian shooting through the sleeve of Lee's coat, 
while his own pistol exploded harmlessly in the 
struggle. Lee finally overcame the Indian by sheer 
strength, throwing him and blowing out his brains 
with a second shot of his revolver. Lee, who is a lit- 
tle fellow, parades the Indian's shield, head dress and 
arms with great pride." 

On the 28th of January, i860, the Captain wrote 
from Camp Colorado: 

**Our mails are now more uncertain than ever. 
The quartermaster's department has no money, and 
contractors are indifferent about the future delivery 
of their mails. Want of funds in the pay department 
comes more nearly home, and unless we soon see that 
most welcome part of our military organization, the 
paymaster, some of us will take root in the soil, from 
pure inability to get away. 

''I have been hunting a great deal lately. It is 
the only occupation I have. A few days since, 
in a two days' hunt, I killed some eight or ten 
buffalo; and in a trip some twenty miles below the 
Post, with three men, I brought back seventy odd 
turkeys. I have a fine pack of dogs and can get 
up a hare, wolf, deer or bear chase any moment. 
My game book shows already over two hundred 
partridges bagged by me this season over Ugly and 

138 



General Kirby- Smith 

Nell, my setter dogs. I believe I ought to stay in 
Texas. I have a great many friends, some inter- 
est, and, for an officer of the army, an undue 
amount of popularity throughout the western por- 
tion of the State. But I long for the sand-hills, I 
long for the pines, I long for the mullet and hominy 
of Florida." 

Two letters written in March, i860, while giving 
a further account of Texas life, and especially of the 
Captain's life at Camp Colorado, show also how deep- 
seated was his desire to enter the ministry : 

''I have just returned from my visit to San An- 
tonio, our great Texas metropolis and the boast of 
the State. I found an increase of some three or four 
thousand inhabitants since March, '58, many im- 
provements and fine buildings, and three new 
churches in course of erection. I noted a change 
from my recollections of three years ago, when visits 
of etiquette were made by men armed to the teeth ; 
when married men walked the streets with wife on 
one arm and a double-barrel shot-gun on the other; 
and trees in the suburbs were almost daily ornamented 
witTi fruit, whose hempen stems were never attached 
thereto by nature. San Antonio is now a thriving 
place of some fourteen thousand inhabitants, and is 
the center and depot for an extensive trade with the 

139 



General Kirby- Smith 

northern departments of Mexico. There is a large 
Episcopal congregation there, though as usual on the 
frontier, made up and supported largely, if not princi- 
pally, by the army. A pretty little church designed 
by Upjohn, is in course of erection under the superin- 
tendence of Mr. Jones, the pastor of the congregation, 
who officiates there and visits the neighboring towns, 
feeding his lambs through a circuit of many miles 
extent. 

"Mr. Jones is a missionary from Old Trinity, with 
a salary of some two or three hundred dollars a year; 
young, sincere, enthusiastic and untiring in his 
labors, he is scattering the seed in ground that has 
long lain fallow; and he will reap a harvest whose 
imperishable sheaves will stand forth to his immortal 
glory when the great Master calls up the husbandmen 
to their final settlement. How I envied him his 
labors! wicked though it be to do so. How willingly 
would I have changed places with him ; how gladly 
have taken his work and his responsibilities. I have 
asked and desired for it for twelve years. I am not 
good enough. I have not a vocation. I may be too 
weak to take the final step. At all events my desires 
are unheeded. An all-wise God has given me work 
in a different sphere. He wills it not according to 
my wishes. His Will be done. . . . 

"I have had no return of chills since that famous 
shake of mine at Cooper. My health is good and my 

140 



General Kirby- Smith 

quarters comfortable; and if I had the benefit of some 
little society and could occasionally hear the rustle of 
crinoline, I would have but little to complain of. 
We are three bachelors at the post and it is eighty 
miles through a wilderness to the first visitable femi- 
nine. My house is a stone building (the best in the 
department), well finished, with the rooms eighteen 
by twenty, high ceilings and a capacious porch extend- 
ing around the whole structure in genuine Southern 
style. A grove of oaks and elms extends for some 
hundred yards in every direction, while a green 
sward stretches across the parade to the Company 
quarters and store houses. The floors are matted 
and carpeted; the windows curtained and the walls 
hung with choice paintings. Books and some few evi- 
dences of taste and cultivation which surround me are 
'my only consolations for the loss of society and its re- 
finements. Though in the woods, I hav^e not yet 
lapsed into a savage state." 

On the 5th of July he wrote: 

** Since I last wrote I have remained idle at my 
post, doing nothing, relaxed and enervated by exces- 
sively hot weather. The country is dried up, the grass 
and vegetation parched, and the water in the streams 
fast disappearing with the continued drouth which 
seems a periodical incumbus upon Western Texas. 

141 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Small parties of Indians are still occasionally 
passing down towards the settlements, always on foot, 
generally two and three together and never more 
than ten or twelve in a party ; keeping hid and leav- 
ing no trail on the rocky, dry ridges over which 
they travel, we never hear of them, but through their 
depredations; and our scouts are seldom able to 
follow on their track. These Indians are Comanches 
and Kioways from the Arkansas and Canadian region 
of country. They are Prairie Indians and expert 
horse thieves. Unlike our Florida Seminoles, they 
rarely kill, valuing a horse more than a dozen 
scalps. Good warriors and a formidable foe (when 
they fight), they always avoid a contest, even when 
vastly superior in numbers. Their tactics are to 
steal, not to fight; and their depredations on the 
Texas frontier correspond with their platform. 
Rarely is anyone killed, unless caught out alone 
and unarmed; while the whole frontier has been 
swept of its stock, and the frontier settlers, as they 
say, are 'fairly afoot.' In the counties just below 
us, some fifteen hundred or two thousand head of 
horses have been carried off during the past season. 

* 'The Comanche comes down from the buffalo re- 
gion (his home) generally in the early part of winter 
and on foot ; the old broken-down pony which packs 
his dried meat, is abandoned beyond the settlements. 
Reaching the stock range, he remains hid, awaiting 

142 



General Kirby- Smith 

moonlight nights and a good opportunity. Suddenly 
pouncing upon and carrying off the unguarded caval- 
lado of horses, he travels day and night, shifting from 
horse to horse of the herd, until he reaches the foot of 
the Staked Plains and prairies of the Canadian, where 
among the tracks of the countless buffalo, he defies 
even the instinct of an Indian to discover his trail. 
The speed with which these Indians travel is almost 
incredible, and is effected at the sacrifice of all the 
weakest and least enduring animals in the cavallado. 
"I have here now the official report of an officer 
who from this post pursued a party that had stolen 
some one hundred head of horses in the county be- 
low. He says that between this point and the head 
of Red River, over three hundred miles, the Indians 
made but three halts, accomplishing eighty miles a 
day, and marking their route by the carcases of ani- 
mals which had given out and were lanced before 
being abandoned. The Comanche is a Prairie In- 
dian, nomadic in his habits, shifting his home with 
the buffalo. He lives in the saddle and the horse is 
his only wealth. His arms are the bow and arrow 
and lance; in the use of the former he is so expert 
that he can keep three arrows in the air, and at full 
run will put six successive arrows in the side of 
his quarry in a space that could be covered by the 
palm of his hand. In the chase he has been known to 
shoot his arrow through a buffalo bull. 

143 



General Kirby- Smith 

''So much for the Indians. You must make allow- 
ances if I have spun out the subject unwarrantably; 
but our duties keep it constantly before us, and not 
a week passes without the departure or return of a 
scout ; and we are constantly on the qui vive for the 
report of Indian sign or depredations." 

On the 24th of September, i860, Captain Kirby 
Smith wrote a letter to his mother, which was lost in 
the mail of that date between Camp Colorado and 
Fort Chadbourne. The express men got drunk, and 
either robbed or destroyed the contents of the mail- 
bag. The letter contained a draft on the Assistant 
Treasurer, which the Captain was remitting to his 
mother. On the loth of November, he wrote: 

*T returned yesterday from a bear hunt in the 
mountains some twenty-five miles west of us. My 
pack of hounds behaved excellently and we killed 
every bear started. Well mounted, I had some thril- 
ling and exciting chases, giving Bruin myself the 
coup dti niort in at least one fierce struggle. Several 
of our dogs were hurt, but we returned laden with 
spoils, and without accident. I only refer to the 
above hunt because of the sequence : 

''Returning across the prairie some six miles from 
the Post, we stumbled upon the letters stolen with 
the mail which was robbed in September last. My 

144 



General Kirby- Smith 

letter with the check to you was among the frag- 
ments. You will see where the end was torn off, the 
newspapers projecting, the contents were deemed 
worthless and the letter was cast aside. It was the 
only valuable recovered. Quartermaster's checks to 
the amount of some three thousand dollars, and a 
package of money, were lost. I have enclosed the 
letter to you, old as it is, without venturing to read 
its contents and without changing the envelope. 

**I am having a quiet time. The Government, in 
one of its periodical fits of economy, has ordered our 
forage to be stopped and scouting to cease, while its 
employes at Washington and in high places will pec- 
ulate the more extensively and audaciously. I should 
not complain, however, for I have an easy time; drill 
my men in the evening, and in the morning kill a 
few brace of partridges or a fine gobbler." 

In an effort to quiet his mother's anxiety regard- 
ing him, the Captain wrote to her on the 23rd of No- 
vember: 

''Western Texas is a remarkably healthy region. 
Its very dryness and the absence of dews, while re- 
tarding the settlement of the country, exempt it from 
epidemics. The outdoor life and constant exercise 
which are a necessity of frontier existence, add to 
my health. The savage Indian, the 'Wild Comanche,' 

145 



General Kirby- Smith 

is the great bugbear of Texas, and he increases in 
numbers, magnitude and ferocity as you recede from 
him. Judging from newspaper accounts, you might 
suppose the country laid waste and devastated by a 
savage foe ; yet, go where you will along the frontier, 
you everywhere find settlers scattered, often ten, 
twenty or thirty miles from a neighbor, without any 
means of defence or a thought of danger. They leave 
their women and children alone sometimes for days. 
Yet such a thing as a murder seldom occurs. You 
see moccasin tracks, horses are stolen, but blood is 
never shed. Not more than three or four cases have 
come under my notice in the last six years. The 
Comanche steals, but rarely kills, except in self- 
defence. His boast is that he has stolen his enemy's 
horses without risk to himself. 

''Thinking over our frontier service, and recalling 
the experience of eight years in this line, I can re- 
member but two officers killed in the numerous affairs 
which our troops have had with the Indians. And I 
really believe that the danger is greater in the ordi- 
nary accidents of life in the southern and middle 
states than it is in our military service in this healthy 
region." 

On the 6th of December, i860, he wrote the last 
letter which need be quoted as giving an insight into 
his frontier experiences : 

146 



. General Kirby-Smith 

"I have just returned from Chadbourne, where I 
have been absent for eleven days. The distance, 
though- short of eighty miles, requires three days' 
travel. Buffalo were making their appearance, and 
their early advent south is here regarded as signifi- 
cant of a severe winter. On my return home, I made 
a fine bag of birds — partridges, ducks (mallard and 
teal). Geese, turkeys and swan were abundant. On 
the last day, I had an exciting chase of three miles 
after a large bear. 

"You may feel some curiosity in regard to my 
mode of travel through this wild region. I always 
ride on horseback. It leaves me at liberty to move 
about as I choose, to hunt off the road. With my 
gun, revolver, knife and matches, I have a woods- 
man's independence. If overtaken by night, I soon 
build my fire and broil my meat with all the relish of 
an experienced frontiersman. 

"I always travel, too, with my coach-and-four and 
outriders, and you will smile when I tell you that the 
aforesaid stylish conveyance is for the accommodation 
of my dogs. It is one of Doroty's ambulances, well 
fitted up with movable seats. The body is six feet 
long, and is large enough to spread down my mattress 
and leave room for my trunk, tent, mess arrange- 
ments and 'Ugly.' In the morning, I designate the 
camping ground for the night. My equipage and es- 
cort dash off at the rate of seven miles an hour ; and 

147 



General Kirby-Smith 

when I ride into camp in the afternoon or after dark, 
I find my tent pitched and blankets spread, a roaring 
fire, a woodsman's feast smoking before it, and a 
woodsman's appetite to add zest to the spread. In re- 
gard to my dashing conveyance, it looks like extrav- 
agance, but it really costs nothing. My saddler and 
blacksmith keep it in repair. There is always sur- 
plus forage in the company, and the men all regard it 
as a favor when they are allowed to handle the reins. 

"Besides my ambulance, my domestic menage con- 
sists of two horses and a hunting mule; a pack of stag 
hounds and four setters — old 'Ugly' heading the list. 
In addition, I keep bear dogs, but their canine re- 
spectability is too doubtful to allow them near the 
premises. They harbour about the company quarters. 

*'I wish I were near enough to supply your larder 
for Christmas. I noticed this morning a large pack 
load of turkeys going to the company. They came 
from a little stream eight miles off, which through 
the winter is an inexhaustible poultry yard. Deer 
and turkey are always hanging about the company 
kitchen, while the buffalo robes and bear and panther 
skins nailed on the walls and scattered around the 
rooms are the trophies of a more manly sport." 



148 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT 

( Up to the early part of i860, there is no indication 
from his letters that Captain Kirby Smith was taking 
any interest in the discussions that were going on 
between the North and the South over the question 
of Slavery and over the related question of State- 
Rights. Although a Connecticut man by birth, 
Judge Joseph Lee Smith, upon becoming a Floridian, 
became a slave owner, and in February, 1845, wrote 
to his son, then in West Point: ''Your servant boy, 
Aleck, thrives rapidly and will be a useful waiter for 
you in a year or two." In the latter part of his fron- 
tier experiences Captain Kirby Smith came in posses- 
sion of Aleck and refers to him in every letter he 
writes. The Captain was unquestionably a humane 
master. In August, 1859, he wrote: ''I enclose you, 
my dear mother, a letter of Aleck's for his mother. 
Will you direct it and forward it, and when you 
write, send me her address for Aleck's benefit.?" The 

following November, he wrote: "I am glad 

expects to purchase Violet. If she wishes, I will ad- 
vance the necessary amount and have her purchased 
in my name. I shall in all probability die an old 
bachelor and am able to support all the old family ne- 

149 



General Kirby-Smith 

groes if necessary. Peggy must not be sold unless 
I am the purchaser." The messages sent by Aleck 
to his mother and "Aunt Peggy" are most scrupu- 
lously set forth in the Captain's letters, while the 
boy's anxiety to receive a letter from his mother is 
shared by his master who repeatedly writes on be- 
half of the negro boy; and finally declares in a letter 
written to his mother in November, i860: "Make Peg 
write to Aleck, or write a few lines for her yourself, 
and give him some news of his mother. I almost feel 
like voting for Lincoln when I see families broken 
up and children so completely separated from their 
parents. Speaking of Peggy, she must not go out 
of the family. I should like to purchase her if it 
can be done. It would be a great comfort to me to 
have her here. Aleck is a good boy, zealous in his 
service and sincerely devoted to me, I believe. He 
was careless at first, but has improved very much. 
He remembers his early instructions in religion, and 
is, I believe, honest and truthful." 

But the best commentary on the real devotion 
of master and slave as exemplified in the case of Cap- 
tain Kirby Smith and Aleck is found in the letters 
written by the latter after the death of General Kirby- 
Smith in 1893. Aleck served his master faithfully 
and was implicitly trusted by him until the close of 
the Civil War. He in some way subsequently became 
a physician and practiced his profession among his 

150 



General Kirby-Smith 

people in Florida, and acquired a considerable stand- 
ing among them. Upon learning of General Kirby- 
Smith's death in 1893, he wrote a tribute to his 
memory which is very significant in the sincerity with 
which it was written. He died in Jacksonville, Flor- 
ida, in 1897. 

It is not the intention of the Editor to offer an 
apology for Captain Kirby Smith's ranging himself 
on the side of the South in the struggle that was then 
approaching, or by any labored explanation to recon- 
cile his conduct with his well-known character. The 
time has gone by when such apologies or explanations 
are demanded. It is almost universally recognized 
that any man placed in the position of Captain 
Kirby Smith and acting conscientiously as he un- 
doubtedly did, would decide precisely as he did. No 
one questions the conscientious motives of Robert E. 
Lee any more than one would question the motives 
of Major George H. Thomas, who appears to have 
been placed in a similar position and who yet decided 
to go with the North. The letters which follow are 
not intended as an apology, but rather as illustrating 
the course of events, and more particularly the influ- 
ences brought to bear upon Captain Kirby Smith, 
perhaps quite like those brought to bear upon a vast 
number of others at the time, which resulted in their 
entering the struggle on the side of the South from a 



General Kirby-Smith 

sense of right and duty, and from no motive of seif- 
aggrandizement or other ulterior designs; and they 
will add to the bulk of testimony readily at hand, that 
there was a principle of right and patriotism and of 
conscience which actuated the leaders of the Southern 
Confederacy. 

In the latter part of January, i860, Captain Kirby 
Smith wrote to a friend in Florida, enclosing a com- 
munication which he wished ''forwarded to the Gov- 
ernor of Florida when the proper time came for doing 
so." In regard thereto he wrote his mother from 
Camp Colorado: 

"I am so far out of the world that a kingdom might 
be lost and won before I could hear of it. What 
Florida is doing I do not know, but when the worst 
comes my lot will be cast with the fortunes of my 
State. Though far beyond the influence of the seces- 
sion movement, I feel its effects; a restless, longing 
anxiety to know the worst possesses me, while a feel- 
ing of most indefinable dread overwhelms me. I pict- 
ure to myself day and night the most gloomy conse- 
quences of the reckless precipitancy of our people. 
A fratricidal war looms on the horizon. The course 
of some of the Cotton States, the tone of feeling, the 
messages of their Governors, the acts advocated in 
their legislatures, are to me most incomprehensible. 

152 



General Kirby- Smith 

''Instead of cultivating a good feeling with, do they 
wish to alienate the affections of their own brethren 
of the Border States ? Instead of a United South, do 
they wish a rival power formed between them and 
the Abolition States on the Canada frontier? If they 
do, they will lose Louisiana and Texas, and dwindling 
down to a fourth-rate power, will find it as hard to 
maintain themselves at home as it will be difficult to 
command respect and influence abroad. But I won't 
trouble you with my forebodings. I can only com- 
mit our cause to that Providence who tempers the 
storm to the afflicted, and pray that we may be spared 
the horrors of a civil war." 

Two months later, he wrote: 

''You are enthusiastic, my dear mother, on the 
topics of the day. The excitement must be intense, 
the perils great, when a sober, staid old lady of more 
than seventy, writes as you do. The waves of sec- 
tional excitement do not reach us here; and we are 
probably better — certainly more dispassionately — 
able to judge of the future; to reason of the past. I 
do not myself anticipate the calamities you believe so 
near. That great, all-wise God, who sustained our 
fathers and who built up this glorious fabric, will 
surely take us through even greater perils than this. 
The horrors of a civil war — and such a war as it must 

^53 



General Kirby-Smith 

be, a war of races — is surely not in store for us. 
There are too many good and conscientious men in 
both sections of our glorious land to permit it. 

"Be assured, my dear mother, that my affection 
and hope are with the State of my birth, and should 
the evil days come, my sword and my services will be 
cheerfully and freely devoted to her service and in her 
support." 

A few months later, he expressed his gratification 
that his mother and aunt were going north on a visit, 
but adds: "I would myself rather remain south of 
Mason and Dixon's Line and avoid all contact with 
such atrocities as the Sumnerites and Sewardites of 
the present day have proved themselves to be." 

In September, i860, he wrote: 

"Our training makes us an efficient body of parti- 
sans, and if the irrepressible conflict does come, the 
lessons learned on this frontier may be of service in a 
better cause. . . Mr. Seward's speech in Michigan 
makes the abolition of the army and navy as much a 
fundamental doctrine of the Black Republican Party 
as the abolition of slavery. Lincoln's election seems 
more than probable. And where so black and threat- 
ening a cloud overshadows the horizon, it behooves 
the prudent man to prepare for the coming storm. 

154 



General Kirby- Smith 

Too old to begin in a new profession, too honest to 
try my hand at cattle lifting (the chief business of 
this frontier) I'll e'en take to cattle raising. No bad 
business in this country. Our sutler here and myself 
have selected a beautiful spot on one of the tributaries 
of the Colorado for our ranch. We purchased four 
hundred cattle at $8.00 a head, in August last, and 
we already number thirty-six young additions to our 
stock." 

On the loth of November, he wrote : 

"I see a great deal in the papers about Secession 
and Irrepressible Conflict, and might suppose that 
ominous clouds threatened in the event of Lincoln's 

election. What does Mr. think of it.? What 

are his views.? I know he is an upright, honest man, 
conservative and patriotic, and too intelligent to be 
deceived by scheming politicians. 

"I would give a great deal to know what is going 
on among you. Do subscribe for the St. Augustine~\ 
paper for me. You need not read it if it is an objec- 
tionable sheet. It would be precious to me; every 
line about the old town will be of interest. I am a 
Southern man in all my feelings, and will stand by 
the fireside whilst the roof tumbles about my ears — 
and such I fear will be the result in the event of a 
violent secession." 



General Kirby- Smith 

On the 23rd of November, he wrote: 

**We have not yet received the election returns; 
but the evidences are strong of Lincoln's election by 
an overwhelming majority north of Mason and Dix- 
on's Line. What will be the result? God grant that 
our people may think wisely and deliberately before 
acting; else we may act rashly and repent vainly. 
The seeds of discord have been sown broadcast over 
the land. Let us all earnestly beseech the Great 
Husbandman lest the weeds of disunion overrun the 
crop and the whole field be laid waste. I fear for the 
results. God grant that we may weather the storm 
without dismantling the ship. His will be done." 

In a letter of Christmas Eve, i860, he wrote: 

**I feel concerned at the state of public feeling at 
home. I fear that our people will act too precipi- 
tately. We have grievances and I know they must 
be redressed, and the slavery question settled defi- 
nitely and forever. But how much more righteous 
our cause, how much more dignified our position, and 
how much more boldly we can put it before the world, 
if we only wait till all our Southern States can act in 
unison; and together, calmly and deliberately and 
without threats make our demands upon the North- 
ern States. They will not be granted. I fear no 

156 



General Kirby-Smith 

compromise, satisfactory to us will be made by the 
Republican Party. But we can then set up our flag, 
a powerful united people with a just cause, ready and 
prepared for that war which must inevitably follow, 
sooner or later, the rupture of the Union. God grant 
that we may yet have a clear horizon, and that such 
wise measures may yet be taken as will dissipate the 
storm which has so suddenly burst upon our glorious 
Union. - 

**Tell Mr. that right or wrong I go with the 

land of my birth." 

On the 3rd of February, 1861, he wrote the follow- 
ing letter upon the subject which was causing great 
searchings of heart among the officers of the Second 
Cavalry : 

*'Just returned from a scout, my dear mother, and an 
opportunity offers for sending a few lines to San An- 
tonio. We have had no mails for a week but from all 
accounts the disunion feeling increases. Florida, with 
the remaining Cotton States, has undoubtedly seceded. 
All the attending evils which I fear have not been 
calmly and deliberately considered, will now try men's 
souls and test their wisdom. Dissension, war, an ex- 
hausted and impoverished country loom up in the dis- 
tance. A Southern Confederacy will be formed, 
I hope, embracing Kentucky, Virginia, and those 



General Kirby-Smith 

conservative Border Slave States, whose calmness 
and judgment will prevent our Cotton States from 
running into ultraism. If a Confederacy of Cotton 
States alone is formed, the slave trade will be re- 
opened, a policy unwise in itself and discreditable, to 
say the least of it. 

**I speak freely, my dear mother, for my fortunes 
are indissolubly linked with a Southern Confederacy, 
and I would support with a clear conscience a people 
whom I wish not only great and powerful, but hon- 
ored and respected. 

* 'Captain Evans of my regiment passed out on leave 
a few days since. He says he has been offered the 
appointment of Brigadier-General of Cavalry by Gov- 
ernor Pickens. Van Dorn, another of my comrades, 
has received a General's commission from his State, 
Mississippi." 

To show the character of the influences brought to 
bear upon Captain Kirby Smith at this time, let the 
following extracts from letters suffice. The first was 
from his mother and bears date December 27, i860: 

"I have written so often and so fully upon the ab- 
sorbing topics of the day that (if you have received all 
my letters) you will almost dread to see a letter from 
me. I have no time now to enlarge upon these sub- 
jects. If you receive newspapers you see the prog- 

158 



General Kirby-Smith 

ress of events. The Secession ball is rolling and 
soon there will be a Southern Confederacy. A few 
days now decides the fate of Florida .... By this 
mail I send you .... a paper .... containing the 
startling intelligence of the evacuation of Fort Moul- 
trie. We cannot understand the action of Major An- 
derson. I hope he can explain. If he has done this 
upon his own responsibility, he has placed himself, 
in public opinion, in no enviable position. We fear 
the consequences of this act. 

''We see many resignations of army officers from 
the South, mostly from South Carolina. She has in- 
vited them to come home and guaranteed a provision 
for them. Your native State will hardly do this. I 
trust you will not feel yourself bound by a sense of 
honor or patriotism to take this step at present. The 
time may come when the North and South will resort 
to arms to settle the troubles. Then you will do your 

duty, I know. Mr. says you must not be hasty 

on this subject. He is warmly for Secession. It took 
him a long time to make up his mind. Now he thinks 
it is the imperative duty of the Slave States to with- 
draw from the Union. They can no longer, with safe- 
ty or honor, remain in it. 

"Mr. of this place has just received a letter 

from Captain Walker, First Cavalry, offering his ser- 
vices to this State, and giving references as to his 
qualifications as a military man .... We think he 

^59 



General Kirby-Smith 

is rather premature. Colonel Hardee, you know, has 
been purchasing arms for Georgia in New York and 
now has an offer from Georgia to go to England for 
the same purpose .... I see from my window a 
group of men busily employed in preparing a tremen- 
dous flagstaff to be erected on the plaza. The flag is 
now being made by the ladies .... We are all here 
in a state of excitement .... May God bless and 
preserve you and may He guide and direct you in 
these times of trial." 

On the i6th of January, iS6i, the mother wrote : 

''It is not for me to give you advice, yet I can 
think of scarcely anything else than what influence 
the political changes which are now rending our un- 
happy country, may have upon you. Our hearts are 
steeped in sadness and anxiety. Forbodings of evils 
yet to come depress us. We are threatened with the 
greatest calamity that can befall a nation. Civil war 
stares us in the face. Indeed it is war already, and 
although we feel that our cause is a righteous one, we 
know not how it is to end. God alone knows. In His 
hands we are, and He knows what is best for us. 

"You can form no idea of the excitement which pre- 
vails all over the Southern country. It is only by see- 
ing the various articles which are issued from the press, 
warm with the feeling of the moment. Our State has 

1 60 



General Kirby-Smith 

seceded, and it was announced here by the firing of can- 
non and musketry and much shouting. A large flag, 
made by the ladies is now waving on the square. The 
device on a blue ground, a tall palmetto tree (in honor 
of Carolina) an eagle bearing a hemisphere, two stars 
and the motto 'Let us alone.' By order of the Gover- 
nor of this State, the Fort, Barracks and Federal prop- 
erty were taken possession of. Cannon are mounted 
on the ramparts of the Fort (a water Battery) to de- 
fend it if any attempt should be made to retake. La- 
dies are preparing a hospital. If necessary, not only 
lint and bandages but cots and comforts will be found. 

'*Is not all this dreadful.? I wish I had not lived to 
see this day. Unfortunately there is no military head, 
no military science here, or, I suppose, in the State. 
.... There are plenty of young men now under arms, 
but what will all this amount to.? 

"Georgia is probably this day out. Colonel Har- 
dee resigns immediately. He told me he expected to 
be called into the service of his State, which has ample 
resources and a military organization. Colonel Har- 
dee will no doubt have a high standing .... He has 
promised to write to you, but says it is difficult to ad- 
vise. But a Southern Confederacy will organize an 
army. Jefferson Davis will have much to do with 
this. Bear this in mind .... I do not presume to 
advise you, but your own feelings and knowledge of 
things will decide you. says hold on till events 

i6i 



General Kirby-Smith 

make it necessary to leave the Federal army. May 
God in His gracious goodness give you guidance in 
this. That true honor and discretion will govern you, 
I have no doubt. That you have higher destinies than 
a life as a backwoodsman or cattle raiser, I fully be- 
lieve. . . . God grant that we may see you once more 
and that the distractions of the times may pass and 
peace and quiet succeed. May God hold you in the 
hollow of His hand. May He guide, bless and pre- 
serve you." 

Colonel Hardee, his life-long friend, wrote to Cap- 
tain Kirby Smith in accordance with his promise, 
from Savannah, on the 23rd of January, 1861 : 

"Florida and Georgia, our native States, have both 
seceded and I feel confident that we are destined to 
have a Southern Confederacy. I do not think there 
is any possibility of a compromise being made which 
will cause the scattered fragments to reunite again. 
Under these circumstances an all-important ques- 
tion presents itself: At what time shall we resign.? 
The State of Florida has passed a resolution invit- 
ing the officers of the Army and Navy to return to the 
service of the State with the same rank and pay which 
they at present receive from the general government. 
A similar resolution has been introduced into the Geor- 
gia legislature but it has not yet been acted on. It 

162 



General Kirby-Smith 

may or it may not pass. Whether it does or not, I 
consider that Georgia has a paramount claim on my 
allegiance and I have written to the Governor of the 
State to say that I am ready to resign whenever he 
may need my services, or whenever in his judgment 
it may be proper for me to do so. I am awaiting his 
reply and shall be governed by what he recommends. 
"I am sure you feel as I do about sustaining the 
South, but your case is somewhat different from mine. 
The Florida resolution required all officers desirous 
of serving the State to signify their intention to do so 
within thirty days. This with you is impossible. 
Unless therefore a collision of arms takes place before 
the Southern Confederacy is organized, I don't think 
I would resign. There is no immediate need of your 
services, you are out of the way, and you will not be 
forgotten when a Southern army is organized. If on 
the frontier I think this would be my course of action, 
but much must depend on the state of your feelings. 
There is no probability that you will be called upon to 
act against the South and this should be duly consid- 
ered in making up your decision. If I thought your 
failure to resign now would interfere with your appoint- 
ment in the Southern Confederacy, I would recom- 
mend you to resign immedately, but I do not believe 
it will. Colonel Huger, although pressed by South 
Carolina, refused to resign until a Southern Confed- 
eracy should be organized. I do not approve his con- 

163 



General Kirby-Smith 

duct, for called on by the State he should have resigned 
at once. I mention this to show the state of feeling 
among some of our officers." 

Other influences might have been brought to bear 
upon Captain Kirby Smith, but surely these were suf- 
ficient to decide his course of action, and on the 3rd 
of March, 1861, he resigned his commission in the 
United States Army. That day he wrote to his mother 
from San Antonio, Texas, as follows: 

"I have forwarded my resignation and am en route 
for Florida and the Southern Confederacy. Texas 
has demanded and received all the public property in 
the State and orders have been issued for the evacua- 
tion of the troops. I do not know what has been done, 
but I feel that I cannot, in the present coercive atti- 
tude of the North, remain any longer in service. I 
have been promoted to a Majority and in a few weeks 
would have been a Lieutenant-Colonel of Cavalry. 
Rank with me now is no consideration, and I would 
rather shoulder a musket in the cause of the South 
than be Commander-in-Chief under Mr. Lincoln. I 
shall go to Montgomery on my way home and if my 
services are needed by Mr. Davis my sword will be 
placed at his disposal. I will give you full particulars 
on my arrival." 



164 



' 



General Kirby-Smith 

On the 25th of March he wrote again from Indian- 
ola, Texas: 

"I have been awaiting here, several days, the arrival 
of a steamer, and you may imagine how restless and 
anxious I am at this delay — how desirous to be in 
the midst of events, which are so fast bringing the 
problems of our country's future to a solution. I am 
on my way home, having resigned on the 3rd of this 
month. 

''Every tie that connects me with the army has been 
broken; profession, kin, all the associations of my life 
have been given up ; and not suddenly or impulsively, 
but conscientiously, and after due deliberation. I 
was the senior Major of my regiment at the time, and 
the youngest man in the army for my position, and 
am twenty years in advance of my contemporaries. 
What my future may be I cannot tell. I have no 
expectations. I only know I sacrifice to my principles 
more than any other officer in the army can. I have 
the consolation that my conscience upholds me in my 
course. No one can accuse me of mercenary motives. 
I will write to you eft route, should I be delayed. 
Write to me. Direct to Montgomery. It is on my 
route, and I shall go to Mr. Davis." 

These two letters were forwarded by his mother to 
Mr. Jefferson Davis and not unlikely reached the pro- 

165 



General Kirby- Smith 

visional President of the Confederate States, before 
Captain Kirby Smith's visit to Montgomery. 

While the question of his resignation was still pend- 
ing, two incidents occurred which illustrate the high 
sense of honor of Edmund Kirby Smith and his ideas 
of his relations to the Federal Government. Before 
leaving Texas he received a letter from his nephew, 
Joseph Lee Kirby Smith, son of the brother who had 
died after the battle of Molino del Rey, in Mexico. 
The young man wrote to his uncle as his dearest and 
almost his sole male relative, asking counsel and ad- 
vice as to the course he should pursue. He expressed 
the desire not to be separated from his uncle in the 
struggle which was then felt to be pending. 

The Captain's reply to this letter was that the ques- 
tion was one which every conscientious man had to 
decide for himself through conviction of right. How- 
ever great the sacrifice, he believed that his duty put 
him with the people of his State. With the nephew 
the case was different. The young man's mother was 
a Northern woman ; the young man himself was born 
under the United States flag in a Northern garrison 
and had no interests in the South. In the expressed 
opinion of the uncle, the nephew belonged on the 
side of the North, and there he went. He rose to 
the rank of Brigadier-General in the Federal Army, 
and died of wounds received at Corinth. More than 

i66 



General Kirby-Smith 

once during the war the uncle received kind messages 
from his nephew fighting in the army on the other 
side. 

After the surrender of all the public property in the 
State of Texas, by General Twiggs, then in command 
of the Texas Division of the Federal Army, to Gen- 
eral Ben McCulloch in command of the Texas Militia, 
the latter sent a demand to Captain Kirby Smith, in 
command of Camp Colorado, for his surrender. The 
Captain refused to surrender the garrison. He had 
resigned his commission in the Federal Army, and 
was turning the garrison over to the United States 
Government, but so long as he was in command there 
he would fight for the protection of that garrison and 
all the property of the United States Government 
committed to his care. And he strongly intimated 
that if General McCulloch chose to fight it would be 
all the worse for him. The demand for surrender was 
not pressed and there can be no charge of any dishon- 
orable act in connection with Edmund Kirby Smith's 
withdrawal from the army of the United States Gov- 
ernment to enter the service of the Confederate 
States. 



167 



CHAPTER X 

THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR AND THE BATTLE 
OF MANNASSAS 

After a visit to St. Augustine, Florida, Captain 
Kirby Smith returned in April, 1861, to Montgomery, 
Alabama, the Provisional Capital of the Confederacy, 
to find that he had been ordered, first, to the command 
of New Orleans and the forts on the Mississippi ; but 
as he had experienced some tedious delays en route, 
and the people had urged **the immediate appoint- 
ment of an army officer of experience" to such an im- 
portant command, the order had been rescinded and he 
was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of a cavalry regi- 
ment of which Earl Van Dorn was appointed Colonel, 
and ordered to the command of the Department of 
Texas. After writing a report for the War Depart- 
ment on the defenses of Texas, this second order was 
withdrawn and he was ordered to Virginia, to which 
State large bodies of troops were being sent, and 
where, as the Secretary of War, Mr. Walker, assured 
him, there were important duties for him to perform. 
He ''had strong hopes of being present at the capture 
of Washington City. ' ' On the 20th of April, he wrote 
from Montgomery to his mother : 

''I am ordered posthaste to Lynchburg, Virginia, 
to take command of the Confederate forces there. 

168 



General Kirby- Smith 

Eight thousand men are now en route for that point, 
and my instructions are to organize, muster into ser- 
vice, and equip these troops as they arrive. Lynch- 
burg is the strategic point for all operations on the 
Virginia frontier and they have given me one of the 
most responsible positions yet assigned to any officer 
of the Confederate Army. Bragg and Beauregard are 
in the provisional army. I shall endeavor, by activ- 
ity and energy, to make up for lack of ability and leave 
the result with that all-wise Providence who has so far 
guided and protected me. The Secretary has provided 
an efficient staff to accompany me. 

'^Lynchburg is the point where our principal maga- 
zines, supplies, etc., must be collected, and it will be 
the centre of our operations. . . I have been interest- 
ing myself for my friends and hope they may receive 
appointments. There will be none made, however, 
till after the meeting of Congress, when the army will 
be increased. My advice to my friends seeking for 
military glory would be to get positions in their State 
troops, as all these troops will be taken into the pro- 
visional army ; and thus, with better positions during 
the war, they will stand a better chance for a perma- 
nent appointment in the peace establishment." 

The following extracts from letters to his mother 
give not only an account of Colonel Kirby Smith's 
movements, but also a series of interesting pictures 

169 



General Kirby-Smith 

of the conditions existing in the early days of the 
Confederate Army: 

''Lynchburg, Va., May loth, 1861. 

''Surrounded by military preparations, with troops 
arriving and departing daily, with the tramp of armed 
men and the rapid roll of the drum ringing hourly in 
my ears, I feel as if the realities of war were fast 
closing upon us. And when I see the best blood of 
our country enrolled, the youth of sixteen and the 
aged sire, side by side; the statesman, planter, and 
minister of the gospel in the ranks — my heart throbs 
with anxiety and I deprecate a contest which must be 
baptised in the blood of all we hold dear or good in 
the land. 

"I fear ours is to be no ordinary struggle. A set- 
tled determination to resist to the bitter end — with 
feelings inflamed and embittered by the outrages and 
vandalisms of the Northern people — will bring on a 
coniflct in which, not only the laws and courtesies of 
war, but the common principles of humanity, will be 
cast to the wind. 

"I am working day and night in the duties of my 
position; troops are arriving and departing daily. 
Norfolk, Harper's Ferry and Richmond are the objec- 
tive points of the campaign, and if the gigantic prep- 
arations making at the North, directed by the clear 
head and active mind of General Scott, are signifi- 

170 



General Kirby- Smith 

cant of coming events, we may soon expect to hear 
of fierce and desperate encounters at each of the above 
points. y 

''I have here now one Alabama regiment, one Ten- 
nessee and one Mississippi regiment. Every train 
comes laden with its warlike freight, and as fast as 
the regiments are mustered in and organized, they 
move on towards one of the above points. Virginia 
is fast calling her sons into the field; it is only the 
lack of arms that keeps tens of thousands from 
marching to her frontier. There is no lack of the 
spirit of 'y6 in the Old Dominion, and her chivalry 
from the length and breadth of the land are offering 
their services. Six thousand of the Virginia troops 
rendezvous at this point. Thirty thousand will prob- 
ably take the field. What is most needed is one 
directing mind — an active and competent head. Gov- 
ernor Letcher is an incubus and the selection of Gen-' 
eral Lee to command the Virignia forces is unfor- 
tunate. There are two systems working here; the 
Virignia Army and the Confederate troops have sep- 
arate heads and are acting under different authority. 
Mr. Davis is anxiously looked for to systematize under 
one control these conflicting authorities." 

''Lynchburg, Va., May i6th, 1861. 
''I am too tired to write more than a few lines. We 
have as yet had no collision, but the forces on both 

171 



General Kirby-Smith 

sides are rapidly concentrating around Norfolk, Har- 
per's Ferry and Alexandria. We have some 8,000 
men at Harper's Ferry, and to-day, I dispatched two 
regiments, Mississippians, to that point. Colonel 
Jackson is in command there — a contemporary of 
mine at West Point and a brave man who will defend 
his post to the death. General Lee has now been 
placed in command of all the forces in the State, but 
we hope Mr. Davis will shortly appear on the field of 
operations or that Johnston or Beauregard will be as- 
signed to the command. 

''The regiments rendezvousing at this point are 
generally undisciplined and uninstructed. The Ten- 
nesseee contingents, especially, are a rough, uncouth, 
democratic mob from the mountains, good rifle shots 
at home, but most intractable soldiers abroad. 

''The Seventh Regiment, I see, has returned to 
New York — served out their term and gone home, 
disgusted with the war." 

"Lynchburg, Va., May 21st, 1861. 
"I leave tomorrow for Harper's Ferry. General 
Jo. Johnston passed through from Montgomery this 
morning. He takes command of the troops collected 
at Harper's Ferry. I report to him for duty and 
probably will participate in the first decisive action 
that takes place on the Virginia frontier. 



172 



General Kirby- Smith 

'*I have sent six regiments from this point since 
my arrival: Two Mississippi and one Alabama to 
Harper's Ferry; tv^^o Tennessee to Richmond; one 
Alabama to Norfolk ; one Arkansas is now here, and 
one Tennessee e7i route to this point. 

"Our men are poorly armed and equipped; the 
old altered flint lock musket is the chief arm that 
has been issued to them. One of the bad phases of 
States' Rights here exhibits itself. Each State in 
its sovereign capacity seized the arms, etc., in the 
forts, and arsenals within its limits. Instead of turn- 
ing them over to the Confederate Government they 
appropriated them, at least the efficient ones, to their 
own use. 

"It is true, we make up in spirit and determina- 
tion what we lack in means of defence. We feel 
our cause is just and Providence in His good time 
will bring it to a prosperous conclusion. 

"My good friend Major Clay, who has been my 
Adjutant-General, my roommate, and indeed, my 
bedfellow part of the time, will write to you if any 
news comes to him that will interest you. He will 
prbably be detained some time here. He is a brother 
of the Senator and an especial friend of the Secre- 
tary of War and President. 

"Mr. Davis will start for Virginia as soon as the bills 
passed by Congress are signed. I hope he may not 



173 



General Kirby-Smith 

come too late to remedy the blunders of General Let- 
cher and the tardiness of Lee." ^ 



"Harper's Ferry, June 2nd, 1861. 
*'I am still at this point, but hourly expecting 
orders to move. Our force is composed of volunteers 
entirely. I would give the whole of them for one 
regiment of regulars, though the best blood in the 
country is found in the ranks ; they cannot stand the 
hardships; they will not submit to the necessary dis- 
cipline ; and they are so illy provided with everything 
from arms to clothing, that they are scarcely efficient 
in the field. The force moving towards this point 

^ The references to General Lee in this letter and in that of 
May loth must not be allowed to give the reader the impression 
that Colonel Kirby Smith was disposed to criticise General Lee. 
Colonel Kirby Smith was criticising, first, the lack of organiza- 
tion — the placing of State troops upon an equal footing with 
those of the Confederacy ; and secondly, the placing of General 
Lee in the command of State troops instead of in command of 
the armies of the Confederacy. And his mention of Lee's " tar- 
diness " was the chafing of the average Colonel at the superior 
officer's deliberateness and caution. General Kirby-Smith al- 
ways had the same admiration for General Lee as when under 
him at West Point, and which he expressed when appointed to 
the same regiment with him for frontier service. Their fields of 
service were widely separated subsequently, so that the oppor- 
tunities for General Kirby-Smith to express his admiration of 
the great Confederate leader in his letters were limited. But 
that he had this admiration no one w^ho knew General Kirby- 
Smith will for a moment doubt. 



General Kirby-Smith 

from each direction is so overwhelming that our only 
policy is the Fabian: We must fall back, seeking the 
time and the opportunity for an attack ; and by celer- 
ity in movement make up for our deficiency of force. 

''My good friend McClellan is Major-General, sec- 
ond in command to Scott, and is moving down from 
Wheeling, by the Baltimore and Ohio road, with 20,000 
men; General Patterson from Pennsylvania is some 
twenty miles north of us at Chambersburg, with 
13,000 men, whilst General McDowell operates from 
Alexandria by Leesburg and Manassas Gap with a 
column of ten or fifteen thousand, bringing upon our 
rear forty or fifty thousand men, commanded by able 
generals. 

''This miserable doctrine of States' Rights (as far 
as military matters are concerned), is now working its 
natural consequences. We have no army, no concert 
of action, no proper provision for arming and equip- 
ping our men. The imbecility and inaction of some 
of our State governments is and will be almost as dis- 
astrous as treachery ; and the whole manner in which 
matters have been ordered and regulated on this fron- 
tier can be designated by no better word in the vocab- 
ulary of military terms than by the word 'blunder.* 
This is all entre nous. 

"What will become of us, God only knows. We 
are in the hands of that Providence who knows the 
justice of our cause. 

175 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Our General Johnston is the first military man of 
the day — active, experienced and intelligent, with a 
good though limited staff, he will do all that can be 
done. He comes too late to remedy the faults of 
others, and I believe will be condemned, whatever 
course he pursues. Major Whiting is our Engineer 
Officer. He was my classmate and regulated the 
operations against Sumter. Major McLean, who 
married a daughter of Colonel Sumner, is our Quar- 
termaster. I am Adjutant-General. Aleck is with 
me. I have dropped all my baggage, retaining only a 
pair of blankets and a change of underclothes." 

''Harper's Ferry, June 9th, 1861. 

"An opportunity presents itself for sending a few 
lines by safe conduct beyond the reach of intercep- 
tion. There is no knowing when this may happen 
again, threatened as we are by overwhelming forces 
of the enemy within one day's march of our line of 
communications. 

"Our men are in good spirits, confident of success. 
An overweening confidence, I fear, for they are but 
a handful (some 7,000), poorly armed and equipped, 
and, to my eyes, not far removed from an irregular, 
undisciplined mob, valiantly defeating ten times their 
number in prospective; but who, I fear, should they 
meet with unexpected resistance, will give way in con- 
fusion. Our cause is just; the earnest and fervent 

176 



General Kirby-Smith 

prayers of thousands arise in our behalf. Ten times 
ten thousand intercede for our success, and our min- 
isters lead our hosts. Captain Pendleton, an Episco- 
pal minister, and a graduate of West Point, com- 
mands a battery of Virginia artillery; reads service 
and administers the communion to his men. A good 
soldier and a good pastor, he is both a temporal and a 
spiritual leader of his men. 

"General Patterson's force, coming from Pennsyl- 
vania by the way of Chambersburg, is some fifteen or 
twenty thousand strong. Their advance column 
camped last night at Sharpsburg, twelve miles off on 
the Maryland side— 4,000 regulars, infantry. My old 
regiment of cavalry is under Major (now Colonel) 
Thomas, a Virginian; and a battery of artillery under 
Doubleday, of Sumter notoriety. McClellan, when 
last heard from, was advancing by the B. & O. railway 
from Grafton, some fifteen or twenty thousand men. 
Our General will, I think, try to strike a blow on one 
of these columns before retreating on Manassas Gap, 
where Beauregard has, or may soon concentrate, a 
force of some eight or ten thousand men. 

**Generals McDowell and Mansfield are in front of 
him with some thirty thousand men. If, after driving 
back one of the columns advancing from the west, we 
can unite with Beauregard, we may fall upon the 
Alexandria force, drive it across the Potomac and then 
return upon McClellan. Our men cannot march, un- 

13 177 



General Kirby-Smith 

fortunately. We have no means of transportation; 
and are but poorly prepared for rapid movements and 
operations in the field." 

"Winchester, Va., June 24th, 1861. 

''I have been so occupied, day and night, since my 
arrival in Winchester that I have really had no time 
to v^^rite to you. Our position in Harper's Ferry, 
untenable and unimportant from a military point of 
view, was only held in compliance with instructions 
from an Aulic Council in Richmond, whose faults 
and blunders had nearly involved us in irreparable 
losses. On the arrival of the President in Virginia, 
General Johnston was instructed that he could evacu- 
ate Harper's Ferry and must be governed in his move- 
ments by circumstances, implicit reliance being 
placed upon his military experience and ability. 

"We evacuated Harper's Ferry, destroying bridges, 
railroad and public buildings, and moved out toward 
Winchester. Winchester, about forty miles from the 
Potomac, is the commercial centre of this neighbor- 
hood towards which all the main roads and turnpikes 
trend, and it is the stragetic point of all operations, 
offensive and defensive, in the valley of Virginia. 

"The position at Harper's Ferry could have been 
turned either to the north or south; and its army, 
enclosed in a cid de sac between impassable mountain 
ridges, compelled to surrender at discretion. 

178 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Our forces moved out a few miles from the Ferry 
and encamped for the purpose of observing the follow- 
ing day (Sunday) as a day of fasting and humiliation, 
when news came that General Patterson had crossed 
the Potomac at Williamsport, thirty miles above Har- 
per's Ferry. By a rapid move across the country to 
the Winchester and Williamsport Turnpike, we came 
near striking a decisive blow upon Patterson's column. - 
We had a distance of forty miles to march. The 
enemy barely recrossed the Potomac in time. A few 
stragglers were taken. Their main force is now at 
Chambersburg, twenty miles from the river, and is 
composed of Pennsylvania volunteers, about 8,000 
strong. Their best troops, including all the regu- 
lars, have gone to Washington where a large force 
is concentrating for an attack on Beauregard. My 
old regiment (Second Cavalry) has been opposite me, 
commanded by General Thomas, an ex-Major of the 
regiment, a Virginia renegade. Colonel Fitz John 
Porter and Stone, my classmates at West Point, are 
with the invading column. Henry Whiting, Chief 
Engineer, General Bee, and Major Howard, class- 
mates and loved friends, are here. Bee has just been 
appointed General in the Provisional Army. How- 
ard is on his staff. My position is Adjutant-General 
of the army under General Johnston, and as he is 
the senior of all the Generals appointed in the Con- 
federate service, and the most experienced and able, 

179 



General Kirby-Smith 

my place is one of great importance and consideration. 
The duties are onerous and burdensome, it is true. 
Our men and officers are unacquainted with their 
duties, have volunteered in the service of their coun- 
try, and have made sacrifices which doubles my 
patience and forbearance with their ignorance and 
mistakes. 

"Our force now numbers some 10,000 effective 
men — well men, I should say — for they are badly 
equipped and ill-clothed. We have from fourteen to 
eighteen hundred sick, and the measles is daily add- 
ing to the sick report. As we have to campaign 
without baggage or tents, the exposure in this moun- 
tain region is great. Even my Texas experience has 
not secured me against colds, etc. Speaking of bag- 
gage, I have long since dropped trunks, clothes, 
shirts, etc. My wardrobe is carried on my back. 
Two colored shirts, a change of underclothes and two 
blankets make up the sum total of my personal effects. 
Aleck and three horses complete the list. 

'*As the Adjutant-General, and (with Henry 
Whiting) the only experienced officer for a long time 
with the army, we were kept occupied day and night. 
Whiting and myself take turns in sitting up at night, 
visiting the brigades, posting and inspecting regi- 
ments and guards, and making reconnoissances, etc. 

"The present move on the part of the enemy indi- 
cates a speedy attack on Beauregard's position. They 

180 



General Kirby- Smith 

are massing troops in and about Washington. Every 
effort has been made on our part to raise Beauregard's 
force to the largest number possible. He must have 
some 20,000 men under his control, amongst which 
are seven South Carolina regiments. Our commands, 
though forty miles apart, are in communication and 
ready to co-operate with each other. McClellan has 
not yet made his appearance from the West. Our de- 
tachments report the Baltimore and Ohio Road as 
unoccupied by them east of Grafton. Several skir- 
mishes have taken place, but no engagement of import- 
ance." 

*'Camp near Martinsburg, July 4th, 1861. 

''We are drawn up in position opposite Patterson's 
force, and yesterday confidently expected a general 
engagement. Patterson's army, from all accounts, 
numbers some 15,000, and occupies the town of Mar- 
tinsburg, a very strong position on the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad, six miles beyond us. 

"We have offered battle with a much inferior force; 
our men are eager for the contest, but, from appear- 
ances, there is no prospect for engaging the enemy 
except on his terms. 

''You have undoubtedly heard of my promotion. I 
received in Winchester my appointment as Brigadier- 
General from Mr. Davis. Barny Bee, my classmate, 
and I are the two general officers with the army under 

181 



General Kirby-Smith 

General Johnston. If the battle we expected had 
taken place yesterday, I would have gone into action 
at the head of one wing of the Army, made up of two 
brigades, one commanded by Colonel Bartow, of 
Georgia, and one by Colonel Elzy, of the old army. 
Archy Cole arrived here this morning. As he is an 
old acquaintance of General Johnston and Major 
Whiting, he will remain as a volunteer aid on the 
General's staff." 

At the same time as the above last quoted letter, 
the General wrote to Colonel Clay, giving somewhat 
fuller details of the situation, as follows : 

"Camp near Darksville, July 4th, 1861. 

*'We are drawn up in position within hearing of 
Patterson's army, the booming of whose guns has 
been ringing the national salute into our ears. Pow- 
der is too scarce a commodity to waste in such festivi- 
ties, but our bands have played 'Dixie' from one end 
of the line to the other. 

"Our men are in fine spirits and anxious for the 
affray; but Patterson, though vastly our superior 
numerically and in artillery, will not dare advance. . 
He occupies a very strong position at Martinsburg, 
on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. On the 2nd, Jack- 
son's Brigade, in advance of Martinsburg, was 
advanced upon Patterson's force. One regiment 

182 



General Kirby- Smith 

alone, Colonel Harper's, sustained the attack of five 
regiments, falling back slowly and in good order ; as 
Jackson said, with all the coolness and regularity of 
regulars. Two men killed, ten missing and thirteen 
wounded were the casualties on our side. We cap- 
tured forty-seven prisoners, two officers and some 
ammunition wagons. A good many wounded were 
carried off the field. Their loss in killed and wounded 
must have been much greater than ours. This was 
extremely creditable, as Jackson had no supporting 
force nearer than Winchester and had the bulk of 
Patterson's force opposed to him. Stewart, Colonel 
of the Cavalry regiment, an active, dashing and 
untiring partisan, passed to their rear, captured some 
ammunition wagons, killing and taking several pris- 
oners. A part of his command rode up to the fence 
by the side of the turnpike where a company of Penn- 
sylvania troops were drawn up, and in a loud voice 
ordered them to pull the fence down; they were Fed- 
eral cavalry and would pass to the front. When the 
Pennsylvanians had removed the fence, the whole com- 
pany was captured to a man before any resistance 
could be made. 

''My dear Clay, I have received an appointment as 
Brigadier-General and am at present commanding a 
wing of the army until a brigade is permanently as- 
signed me. Could you not apply to be attached to my 
staff as Adjutant-General ? The only difficulty is, you 

183 



General Kirby-Smith 

have too much rank, but if you do not go into the 
field with an older and more experienced command, 
and will renew our former official relations, I will 
indeed be gratified by having you with me. Write 
and let me know what action you may take in the 
matter." 

General Johnston, upon deciding that Harper's 
Ferry was untenable, withdrew his troops, as we have 
seen from the above letters, to Winchester, intending 
to effect a union of his forces with those of Beaure- 
gard, then encamped upon the plains of Manassas. 
On the iSthof July, 1861, he received a dispatch from 
Richmond stating that the Federal Army under Gen- 
eral Irwin McDowell was advancing upon Manassas; 
and acting upon the discretionary power given him, 
Johnston advanced to the assistance of Beauregard. 
The following day the whole army of Johnston, except 
a portion under the command of General Kirby-Smith, 
moved through Ashby's Gap to Piedmont, a station 
on the Manassas Gap Railroad. Thence the infantry 
proceeded by train, the cavalry continuing the march 
by road, and reached Manassas by noon on the 20th. 

In the meantime McDowell had thrown his right 
around Beauregard's left, turned his position, attacked 
him at daylight on the 21st, and the battle of Manas- 
sas or Bull Run was begun. Driving everything 
before him as he marched down the right bank of Bull 

184 



General Kirby-Smith 

Run, McDowell had the Confederates in retreat by 
midday, their line broken and their position forced. 
About that time General Kirby-Smith arrived by train 
from Winchester, with the Fourth Brigade under 
Colonel Elzey, at the junction of the Manassas Gap 
and Orange and Alexandria Railroads. The General 
heard the noise of battle, stopped the train and hur- 
riedly debarked his men. The brigade was then com- 
posed of the First Maryland, the Third Tennessee, 
and the Tenth and Thirteenth Regiments of the Pro- 
visional Army. When formed, the General assumed 
command and hurried forward to where the battle 
was hottest. Wounded men were met retreating, 
who cried: *'Go back! We are all cut to pieces. Go 
back! You will all get killed." But the brigade 
kept steadily on and General Kirby-Smith reported 
to General Johnston. But as he proceeded past a 
clump of pines on the right, a sharp volley from a 
squad of the Brooklyn Zouaves knocked him over the 
neck of his horse, struck by a ball and severely 
wounded ; indeed, it was at first supposed that he was 
killed, and Colonel Elzey resumed the command and 
admirably accomplished ''with great promptitude and 
vigor" the movement so effectual in defeating the 
Federal Army, and turning Confederate defeat into 
victory. 

Without entering into the controversy that has been 
repeatedly waged over the question, "Who was the 

185 



General Kirby-Smith 

'Blucher of Manassas' ?" always with the same result 
— the complete vindication of General Kirby-Smith's 
claim to that title — the account which follows is for 
the most part in General Kirby-Smith's own words, 
and his statements have been abundantly verified by 
evidence adduced from a variety of sources : 

*'I came upon the field at Manassas," wrote the 
General, "with Elzey's Brigade, which formed a part 
of the division assigned to my command by General 
Johnston. When the head of our column, on the 
march from Winchester, reached the Manassas Gap 
Railroad, General Johnston pushed on with the 
advanced brigades by rail, leaving me, as the second 
in command and his chief of staff, to embark and for- 
ward on their arrival, as rapidly as possible, the 
remaining brigades. I reached the battlefield in rear 
of our left flank, through crowds of fugitives, who in 
many cases had thrown away their arms and were hur- 
rying away from the field, declaring we were whipped. 
Without halting the column, I rode rapidly forward 
and in person reported to General Johnston, who 
ordered me to halt in the rear. Urging the eagerness 
and enthusiasm of my men, I begged the General to 
let me take them to the front. His reply was 'The 
ground is new to me. It is our left that is driven 
back. You may move your men forward to its sup- 
port. ' 

i86 



General Kirby-Smith 

''Returning at a gallop, and taking the firing as a 
guide, I led the column at a double-quick, endeavor- 
ing to bring it upon the right flank of the enemy. I 
was shot as the brigade deployed into line, and was 
taken in an unconscious condition to the rear. The 
stampede which took place in the Union army occurred 
within fifteen minutes after I was shot — General 
Elzey taking command and leading the brigade into 
action. My belief is that the appearance of my com- 
mand upon the enemy's right flank, together with 
that of some other troops which came up at that time 
to the support of our left, caused the panic which so 
suddenly changed a victory for the Union army into a 
disgraceful flight." ^ 

The course of events after the General fell wounded 
upon the battlefield at Manassas is best told in the 
letters he wrote to his mother as soon as he was able 
to resume his correspondence. 

^As these pages are passing through the press, General E. P. 
Alexander's "The Battle of Bull Run," appears in a popular 
magazine, to be reprinted subsequently in his book of reminis- 
cences. The statements of this writer are corroborative of the 
claims of the friends of General Kirby-Smith. " These were the 
only troops of Johnston's army to arrive in time for the begin- 
ning of the batde, though another brigade under General Kirby- 
Smith arrived in time to turn the wavering scale about 3 p.m. on 
the 2 1 St." 

187 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Cunningham Manor, July 31st, 1861. 
"I am located in the most delightful country resi- 
dence of Mr. Ed Cunningham, about thirty miles from 
Manassas, near the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. 
Captain Cunningham of the Engineers, who was on 
my staff, insisted on bringing me here to the resi- 
dence of his uncle, and my good star could not have 
placed me in kinder, better hands. Mr. Cunningham 
and his wife are both well advanced in life and with- 
out children. Their home is one of those country 
residences for which Virginia is so noted, where the 
hospitality meted out to all, is as genuine as it is 
bountiful and unostentatious. Mr. Cunningham and 
family are Episcopalians, and there is an air of true 
Christian piety pervading the whole household which 
will conduce as much to my spiritual as to my bodily 
good. 

"I have had another of my providential escapes. 
The ball (a large minie) entered just back of the col- 
lar bone on the right shoulder, passed under the 
muscles of the shoulder blade and the muscles of the 
spine, missing the artery and the spine, and coming 
out at the left shoulder; and after leaving a track of 
twelve inches through the very region of vitality, has, 
I may say almost miraculously, inflicted no more than 
a flesh wound, which though painful and troublesome, 
never was dangerous, and will keep me but a short 
time from the field. 

188 



General Kirby-Smith 

''I was shot almost immediately after coming into 
action. Our force, of which I was second in com- 
mand, left Winchester to effect a junction with Beau- 
regard. After marching day and night, at eleven 
o'clock in the morning, we reached Piedmont on the 
Manassas road, thirty miles from the Junction (Beau- 
regard's position). General Johnston moved with the 
advance, consisting of Jackson's Brigade and a por- 
tion of Bee's and Bartow's Brigades, leaving me at 
Piedmont with 7,000 men, a little more than half the 
column. 

"I pushed on with the next train in the morning 
and reached the battlefield, some five miles from the 
road, about 2 p. m., in time to retrieve the fortunes of 
the day. For one hour my command moved through 
crowds of fugitives of every arm and apparently from 
every regiment and State. Threats and entreaties 
were alike vain. Fear and exhaustion had entirely 
demoralized them. Finding that even the sabre was 
ineffectual in rallying them, we pushed forward, 
regardless of their discouraging influence, with the 
resolve to die if all hope were gone. Two South 
Carolina regiments opportunely came on to the field 
at the same time. Cash's and Kershaw's, and by the 
Providence of God, a defeat on our part was converted 
into a panic and rout on the side of the enemy. 

*'We should indeed, give thanks to the Almighty, 
to Whom all praise is due. The battle was not won 

189 



General Kirby-Smith 

by force of arms, but God in His mercy spread a panic 
through their hosts and turned them in dismay and 
with confusion at the very moment of their victory. 
Their reserves were not even brought into action and 
many of their regiments had not even fired a shot. 

"My friends everywhere overwhelm me with kind- 
ness. Mr. McDaniel, President of the Farmers' 
Bank, Lynchburg, sent his nephew to the battlefield 
to hunt me up, dead or alive; if dead, to bring my 
body ; if alive, to remain by my side till I could be 
transported to his home at Lynchburg." 

"Lynchburg, Va., August i6th, 1861. 
"I arrived here yesterday, from Mr. Cunningham's 
residence in Culpepper. My wound, though not 
entirely closed, is so nearly healed that I expect to re- 
port for duty in the field by the first of September. 
If I have cause to be thankful for my providential es- 
cape, I am equally so for my rapid and easy recovery. 
With a wound some eleven inches in extent through 
my shoulder and back, I have suffered no pain, had 
no fever, and on the eleventh day mounted my horse 
and rode some two miles without ill consequences. I 
am now here at my friend's, Mr. McDaniel's, where I 
shall remain until I report for duty at Manassas. In 
the meantime I am led to believe that no movement 
will be made on either side and that I shall reach the 
army before my services will be needed 

190 



General Kirby-Smith 

**I wrote you some days after my arrival at Mr. 
Cunningham's, where I was carried the second day 
after the battle. I felt much concern at my death 
having been published in the papers, and read my 
obituary with but little satisfaction. . . . My friends 
here in Lynchburg were equally concerned. Mr. Mc- 
Daniel sent his nephew to the field to hunt me up and 
bring me to his house. . . I received a letter from Josie 
with one from Bishop DeLancy [Bishop of Western 
New York], both addressed to McDowell, anxiously 
inquiring for me. They were endorsed, 'answered 
by McDowell,' and were forwarded to General Johns- 
ton's headquarters. It behooves one to be killed 
occasionally to find out how many friends he has and 
how anxiously he can be inquired after. I was for- 
tunate in having Captain Cunningham on my staff 
and in being taken to his uncle's residence. Sur- 
rounded with every comfort and luxury, with careful, 
attentive nursing, in a beautiful locality, with the 
quiet of the country and the influences of a truly pious 
and religious family, my recovery was greatly acceler- 
ated." 

"Lynchburg, Va., September 4th, 1861. 

**I am still here at McDaniel's with my friend Clay, 

but my wound has so far healed that I intend to 

leave tomorrow for Richmond preparatory to joining 

my command. We are here hourly looking for impor- 

191 



General Kirby- Smith 

tant news. In every direction — Western Virginia, 
Missouri and the Potomac — a fierce struggle with our 
foes is inevitable. Around Manassas, though our 
pickets and outposts are constantly engaged, there 
is no evidence of a forward movement. Indeed, my 
advices from Richmond tell me that no movement is 
contemplated for at least three weeks. You must feel 
no uneasiness about my wound, and though my 
shoulder is somwehat refractory, I will not experience 

any permanent ill effects 

"James Smith's son Edward was at Manassas in 
the Seventy-first New York Regiment ; but, like the 
rest of the three months' men, he returned home con- 
vinced that a pleasure trip to Richmond was not 
advisable at this season. Ned Kirby was in Ricketts* 
Battery, directly opposed to me. At the time, I 
believed it was a grape shot from his battery that 
struck me down. The doctor relieved me by assuring 
me that the wound was made by a minie ball. I shall 
remain in Richmond but a few hours, transact such 
business as I can and return here for my trunk before 
reporting at Manassas. One Florida reigment has 
applied to be attached to my brigade. I think it will 
be done. They are spoken of as a fine body of men." 

It was while convalescing at the home of Colonel 
McDaniel at Lynchburg, that General Kirby-Smith 
met Miss Cassie, daughter of Samuel S. Selden, 

192 



General Kirby-Smith 

deceased, late of Lynchburg, to whom he was married 
on the 24th of September, 1861. With his bride he 
made a visit to St. Augustine, and then, upon the 
expiration of his leave of absence, returned to Vir- 
ginia. Resuming his correspondence with his mother, 
his letters furnish further details of his movements up 
to the beginning of the year 1862. 

''Lynchburg, Va., October 22nd, 1861. 

''On my arrival here I found a telegram calling me 
to Richmond and informing me that I had been ordered 
to the command of the Department of Florida. In 
Richmond, however, I met with every kindness and 
consideration from the President and Secretary of 
War, Mr. Benjamin. The former told me I had been 
ordered to Florida under the impression that it would 
be acceptable and gratifying to me, but that they 
could ill dispense with my services on the Potomac. 
Mr. Benjamin said he was glad my orders had missed 
me, as the new disposition of the troops on the Poto- 
mac required my presence there. 

"I should indeed feel gratified at the honors con- 
ferred upon me. The President has promoted me to 
a Major-General, and given me command of one of the 
divisions on the Potomac. By the present disposi- 
tion of the forces which goes into effect in a few days, 
the Army of the Potomac will be divided into four 
divisions of five brigades each, the division command- 

14 ^93 



General Kirby-Smith 

ers being G. W. Smith, Van Dorn, Longstreet and 
myself ; all under the immediate command of Beaure- 
gard. Johnston remains in command in Northern 
Virginia, his jurisdiction comprising the District of 
the Valley (the country west of the Blue Ridge), under 
T. J. Jackson; the District of the Potomac, under 
Beauregard; and the District of Aquia Creek and 
Fredericksburg, under Holmes. 

"The brigades under my command will be composed 
of all the Georgia and Texas troops under Generals 
Walker, Toombs, Wigfall, Evans, and Elzey. I feel 
impressed with the vast responsibility now resting 
upon my shoulders. My trust rests alone on that 
Providence which has so successfully guided and 
guarded me through a life of dangers and responsibil- 
ities. I will pray for strength and wisdom from on 
high, that God will enable me to sustain the hopes of 
my friends and the expectations of my country." 

** Headquarters, Centreville, Va., 

November 2nd, 1861. 
''I arrived here Monday, having been detained 
some days in Richmond awaiting final instructions. 
I have my tent pitched in the outskirts of the little 
village of Centreville, in a field with Generals Johns- 
ton and G. W. Smith and their staffs. My command 
has not yet been assigned to me in orders, but I will 
have the brigade on the left wing of the army, com- 

194 



General Kirby-Smith 

posed of Alabamians, Georgians and Mississippians. 
My staff has not yet been organized, but my friend 
Clay has been ordered to report to me as Adjutant- 
General, and Captain Cunningham will be one of my 
aids. I feel the vast responsibility now thrown upon 
my shoulders ; twenty-five regiments, the command 
of a Field Marshal, is a large body of men to be 
wielded and manoeuvered by one man. It is indeed a 
vast responsibility, with annoyances, anxieties and 
distresses both of mind and body difficult to be appre- 
ciated 

"I feel that on this army hangs the fate of the coun- 
try. If we defeat the enemy here, whatever be their 
successes elsewhere they will be thrown away. Balti- 
more will be occupied. Maryland will rise and in all 
probability the Administration will be overthrown. 
Should we be routed, however (which God forbid), 
the consequences are too awful for contempla- 
tion 

"All is quiet here, yet from the movement of troops 
in heavy masses on the other side, it would seem that 
some important operation is on hand: a demonstra- 
tion towards Holmes' command in the Fredericks- 
burg District, whilst McClellan attacks in force on 
our centre here or endeavors to turn our left. He 
brings tremendous odds against us with great prepon- 
derance of artillery. We meet him with firm, brave 
hearts, a just cause and a reliance upon that Provi- 



General Kirby-Smith 

dence Who has thus far plainly manifested Himself 

in all our successes 

''The battle of this campaign will, I believe, be 
fought here in November. The sooner the better for 
us, as we have no provision for winter, and our men 
are ill-provided with all the necessaries and but little 
accustomed to the exposures of a rigorous winter. 
The weather is already cold ; ice and heavy frost in 
the morning. While I am writing a violent storm 
rages. Most of our tents have been blown down." 

"Centreville, November 23rd, 1861. 

''We still have no evidences of an advance on the 
part of the enemy and the feeling is daily gaining 
ground that nothing will be done here this winter. 
General Toombs tells me that he has just received a 
letter from a New York friend, who states that he has 
just seen a letter from McClellan saying that this army 
is the Rebellion — it is Secession. He gives the exact 
force of the army and names of the Generals in com- 
mand, and says that it is folly to suppose the army 
can be crushed out. If he can dissipate it and scat- 
ter it, the Rebellion can be crushed. 

"I have no one with me on my staff at present but 
my valued aid and esteemed friend Clay. He is my 
Adjutant-General, and Captain Morgan is my Chief 
Quartermaster. Captain Cunningham, my aid, is 
absent, sick. I have applied for the appointment of 

196 



General Kirby- Smith 

Winfield as my second aid, and I am expecting him 
every day. He is with the Hampton Legion at Dum- 
fries, on the Potomac. A few days since I rode over 
the battlefield of the 2ist. But few indications remain 
to tell of the desperate struggle that raged on that day. 
Skeletons of dead horses and the half-exhumed re- 
mains of the enemy's dead mark the ground. I 
gathered a sprig of cedar from the tree by the side 
of which I fell, and one from the bush where poor 
Bee received his mortal wound." 

''Wilcoxen House, January 19th, 1861. >' 
* 'Since I last wrote, several pleasant and, to me, 
important changes have taken place in both my 
domestic and military arrangements. My division, 
comprising as you know, Taylor's, Elzey's, and Trim- 
ble's Brigades, has moved back some six miles to the 
rear of Centreville, and the men have been busily 
engaged since Christmas in hutting themselves for 
the winter. I occupy the country on both sides of the 
railroad for two miles to the north and east of Manas- 
sas Junction ; and notwithstanding the paucity of tools, 
the poverty of the Government, and inefficiency of 
the Quartermaster's Department, have succeeded in 
putting my command in comfortable log cabins where 
they can worry through thewinter — if McClellan will 
only let them. My headquarters have been established 
at a pretty little farmhouse known as Wilcoxen's. It 

197 



General Kirby-Smith 

is an old, ante-Revolutionary affair, and was the 
estate of the Hooes of Alexandria in the palmy days 
of Fairfax County. It is a long, low, rambling, old- 
fashioned building with six rooms and outhouses. 
Cassie and her sister are with me, and with a little 
taste and some good furniture we have rejuvenated the 
old edifice. 

"Notwithstanding the absence of fences and the 
marks of devastation which follow in the track of the 
contending armies in our immediate vicinity, war has 
lost its horrors and the benign influence of crinoline 
has shed an air of peace and quietude over us to 
which we have long been strangers. In truth, we are 
delightfully situated; with warm, pleasant rooms well 
furnished, and a larder that would do credit to any 
market. We get oysters from Richmond ; the coop 
seems always full of turkeys and chickens; a fine 
haunch of venison or a quarter of mutton comes in 
every few days with the compliments of some friend ; 
fine beef and vegetables are in abundance with eggs, 
fresh butter and rich cream. Van Dorn and Taylor 
are near neighbors. Van Dorn has his sister with 
him, Mrs. Sullivan. She only a few days since 
arrived from Baltimore. Fitz Lee, Jenifer and many 
of my old Texas friends and companions are here. 
Generals Johnston, Beauregard, and G. W. Smith are 
to move to this neighborhood for the winter, and should 
the campaign be suspended, there will be no lack of 

198 



General Kirby-Smith 

society, as they have all been making arrangements 
for their families this winter. 

''Our present status, however, is extremely uncer- 
tain. We are even now prepared to move at a 
moment's notice, and have been for days under 
marching orders ; our information from every source 
indicates a projected campaign this winter on the part 
of the Northern army. They are supposed only to 
be waiting for the Burnside expedition to be fully 
fitted out. One portion, seventy vessels, is now at 
Hampton Roads. The remainder is to come from the 
North. From the character of their vessels we believe 
this expedition will not go south, but is intended to 
co-operate with McClellan's army in an attack on the 
lower Potomac. 

"Evansportwill probably be attacked and the block- 
ade of the Potomac raised ; they will then probably 
shift their base of operations to the Rappahannock or 
the vicinity of Fredericksburg, thus cutting off our 
communications with Richmond and completely turn- 
ing our present position. Four or five days will in 
all probability decide the character of the cam- 
paign; .... 

''The weather has been cold and our men have suf- 
ered from pneumonia. My old friend Colonel Smith 
is not expected to live. I saw him with his wife two 
evenings since at Van Dorn's quarters. An hour after 
leaving he was delirious with an attack of typhoid 

199 



General Kirby- Smith 

pneumonia. Should you wish to write to anyone 
North, I can send your letters. I have not written 
myself, and shall not to anyone north of the Potomac, 
but will send any letter enclosed under cover to me." 



200 



CHAPTER XI 

THE KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN 

Late in February, 1862, Major-General Kirby- 
Smith was relieved from duty with the Army of the 
Potomac and assigned to the command of the Depart- 
ment of East Tennessee, North Georgia and North- 
west Carolina, comprising the mountain region of 
which the valley of East Tennessee is the centre. He 
arrived the following month at Knoxville, the head- 
quarters of the Department, and at once, in accord- 
ance with instructions from President Davis, pro- 
claimed martial law. The law was especially stringent 
as regards the sale of spirituous liquors. His part in 
the events which followed cannot be better related 
than in his own words : 

**The mountain section to which I was assigned in 
1862, was filled with a large Union element, which 
in East Tennessee was pronounced and bitter in feel- 
ing, with animosities intensified by an injudicious 
and probably unnecessarily severe treatment on the 
part of the Confederate leaders. The old party lines 
of Whig and Democrat, I found, were to a marked 
degree in accord with the division into Union and 
Confederates; and immediately upon my arrival at 

201 



General Kirby- Smith 

Knoxville, the headquarters of the Department, strong 
pressure was brought to bear, to urge me to adopt 
severe and stringent measures in dealing with the 
Union element, especially with the leading and promi- 
nent men who remained in East Tennessee. But with 
that sense of justice and regard for law, by which I 
faithfully endeavored to direct every act of adminis- 
tration during the war, I determined to deal kindly, 
yet firmly, with the Union element, and if possible, 
to win it over to the side where it rightly belonged. 
I announced in general orders that I would protect 
every man in his rights under the law without bias 
from his Union or Confederate proclivities, and that 
I would punish under the articles of war, any inter- 
course with the enemy by those remaining within 
our lines and living under our protection. 

''Severe repressive measures were taken with the 
loose cavalry organizations which had forced into 
existence and had developed much of the bitterness 
and opposition toward the Confederacy then charac- 
terizing the mountain region. Some of them were 
broken up and scattered through other commands. 
Others were brigaded and brought under strict dis- 
cipline, and in a very short time a marked change was 
noticeable throughout the Department. Sentiments 
disloyal to the Confederate Government were no 
longer openly proclaimed. A kindlier feeling and a 
more friendly spirit toward the Confederacy developed 

202 



General Kirby-Smith 

itself throughout the mountain region, and before 
many months more than one regiment was raised and 
mustered into the Confederate Army from that very- 
element which had been previously so violently in op- 
position to our cause. 

**The strategic importance of East Tennessee forced 
itself upon my convictions from the start. It pro- 
vided the line of communication between the East 
and West of the Confederacy (the gateway through 
Chattanooga to the south by which Sherman after- 
wards marched); and had its strong natural boundary 
projecting, like a great bastion upon, and threatening 
Buell's communications in North Mississippi, w^hile 
his base was in Kentucky. Rich in resources, the 
region was largely sending supplies to the support of 
the Confederate army near Tupelo. I wrote to Gen- 
eral Bragg and urged the shifting of his base from 
Mississippi to East Tennessee; that rapidly trans- 
porting his army over the railroad and reenforced by 
my command, he could throw himself upon Buell's 
communications, strike him to great advantage and 
with almost certainty of success. His base in East 
Tennessee, rich in supplies and fortified by nature, 
strengthened and secured his rear. Bragg replied 
that he would move and requested the sending of my 
cavalry into middle Tennessee and Kentucky, and the 
destruction of the railroad leading from Louisville. 
In compliance with this request, John H. Morgan 



General Kirby-Smith 

was sent by me into Kentucky, and the Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad was broken up. 

"Bragg did not move, and it was only after the 
occupation of Cumberland Gap by the Federal Gen- 
eral George W. Morgan, and the threatening of Chat- 
tanooga from Buell's command, that Bragg's change 
of base was ordered and the Army of the Mississippi 
moved to East Tennessee. 

*'0n taking command of the Department of East 
Tennessee, I found, for the defence of the Department 
a Confederate force of about 5,000, ill-organized and 
lacking discipline. The loose companies and scat- 
tered cavalry were at once brigaded and a -concentra- 
tion was made at Chattanooga and Cumberland Gap, 
the two most strategic points. General Stevenson, a 
most excellent officer, was placed in command at the 
Gap, and General Leadbetter at Chattanooga. Toward 
the latter part of June, a column of some 10,000 Fed- 
erals under General George W. Morgan, moved upon 
Cumberland Gap by the mountains of Kentucky, 
while a second column under General Mitchell, from 
Middle Tennessee, after defeating Adams' Cavalry, 
threatened Chattanooga. Cumberland Gap was turned 
by the Big Creek Gap, and General Stevenson, to 
avoid being invested, evacuated Cumberland Gap; and 
on the 20th of June, fell back to the line of the Clinch 
River, before that position, which was at once occu- 
pied by the Federal General Morgan. And Mitchell, 

204 



General Kirby- Smith 

whose move proved to be only a diversion in favor of 
Morgan, after throwing a few shells into Chat- 
tanooga from the opposite shore of the Tennessee, 
rapidly fell back. Reenforcements were rapidly 
thrown into East Tennessee, and on the 14th of June, 
the forces in the Department were disposed as fol- 
lows: General Stevenson's Division, 10,000 strong 
and composed of four brigades of infantry and one of 
cavalry, occupied the line of the Clinch. General 
Heth's Division, of three brigades of infantry, and 
General McGown's Division of two brigades of infan- 
try, with a brigade of cavalry, 10,000 strong, occu- 
pied the line of the Tennessee between Chattanooga 
and Bridgeport. General John H. Morgan, with 
1,300 cavalry, was operating in Kentucky. 

''On the 2 1st of July, the army of Mississippi was 
ordered to move from Tupelo on Chattanooga. On 
the 31st of July, I met General Bragg in Chattanooga 
and passed a large part of the night in discussing with 
him the plans of the campaign. I reminded him that 
the condition of my department was much changed 
since I first urged the shifting of his base from 
Tupelo to East Tennessee; that General George W. 
Morgan now occupied Cumberland Gap with a force 
of over 9,000 (he reports 11,000) men; that the forti- 
fications were much strengthened, and the place made 
secure against assault. General Bragg proposed oper- 
ating in Middle Tennessee with Nashville for his 

205 



General Kirby-Smith 

objective point; and that, reenforced by Cleburne's 
Division, composed of Smith's and Churchill's Bri- 
gades, I should take Cumberland Gap by assault. We 
separated and I returned to Knoxville and hastened 
the preparations for carrying out my part of the cam- 
paign. 

''On the 9th of August, I wrote to General Bragg 
from Knoxville that the true and most effective mode 
of investing Cumberland Gap would be a direct move 
on Lexington, Kentucky, and the occupation of the 
Blue Grass region, from which his supplies were 
drawn. And on the nth of August I wrote to 
President Davis from Knoxville, that leaving Gen- 
eral Stevenson with 9,000 men in front of General 
Morgan, I should move into Kentucky with 10,000 
men and invest Cumberland Gap by occupying the 
Blue Grass country from which all the enemy's sup- 
plies were drawn. 'My advance is made,' I wrote, 'in 
the hope of permanently occupying Kentucky. It is 
a bold move, offering brilliant results, and will be ac- 
complished only by hard fighting.' 

"On the night of the i6th of August, moving for 
the investment of Cumberland Gap, the passage of the 
mountains was begun. At the head of Cleburne's 
and Churchill's Divisions, 6,000 strong, I crossed by 
Rogers' Gap; and Heth, with his Division of Davis' 
and Leadbetter's Brigades, 3,000 strong, crossed by 
Big Creek Gap. Scott's Brigade of cavalry, 900 men, 

206 



General Kirby-Smith 

with a battery of mountain howitzers, moved in 
advance and occupied Barboursville, on the i8th of 
August. I arrived in Barboursville two days later and 
received a dispatch from General Bragg that he would 
begin his movement upon the rear of Nashville that 
week. 

"The almost impassable nature of the roads across 
the mountains, their length and openness to attack 
from the garrison at Cumberland Gap, convinced me 
long before reaching Barboursville that the mbve into 
Kentucky was the only feasible mode of investing 
the Gap. On the day I reached Barboursville T dis- 
patched Humphrey Marshall, in West Virginia, as 
follows: *I shall move with my column rapidly upon 
Lexington, Kentucky, via Richmond, on the 25th. 
Move forward rapidly into Morgan County, Kentucky, 
and co-operate with me. ' 

"On the 2ist I wrote to President Davis: *I have 
but one of two things to do, either to fall back to 
East Tennessee for supplies, or to advance upon Lex- 
ington for them. The latter course, though a bold one, 
I have most unhesitatingly determined to take.' I 
predicted in my letter that my advance with a column 
of nearly 10,000 men into Kentucky would be attended 
with most brilliant results. John H. Morgan had 
despatched me that he had destroyed the tunnel upon 
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; that Bragg' s 
move upon the rear of Nashville left me nothing to 

207 



General Kirby- Smith 

fear from Buell, and I should have opposed to me only 
raw levies then being raised in the Northwest. 

''Measures were taken at once for the advance. 
Scott was ordered forward to cover the movement. 
Stevenson's Division of Rains', Barton's, Reynolds' 
and Taylor's Brigades and Ashby's Cavalry Brigade 
— in all 10,000 — was in front of the Gap. Reynolds' 
Brigade was detached and ordered to join General 
Heth at Barboursville. General Leadbetter occupied 
Cumberland Ford. On the 23rd, Scott attacked and 
defeated Metcalf's cavalry and Garratt's infantry at 
Big Hill, and thus the appearance was given of no 
more than a cavalry raid into Kentucky. 

''Scott reporting the enemy strong on his front, on 
the morning of the 27th, leaving Heth at Barbours- 
ville under orders to follow as rapidly as possible, I 
moved by forced marches with Cleburne's and 
Churchill's Divisions to the support of Scott, through 
a wild mountain region and over wretched roads, and 
reached the top of Big Hill at daylight on the 29th. 
Our movement had been perfectly covered by Scott's 
advance, and none of the mountain passes and strong 
positions were occupied by the enemy. We descended 
Big Hill and debouched from the mountains on the 
morning of the 29th; pushing forward late in the 
afternoon, we skirmished heavily with the enemy's 
cavalry; and that night, our men, exhausted with 
long and rapid marches, rested on their arms in order 

208 



General Kirby-Smith 

of battle, so close to the enemy's position that his 
pickets, to their surprise, were captured next morning 
within our lines. 

**We had now advanced a hundred miles into Ken- 
tucky, through a wild and difficult mountain region 
almost destitute of supplies. The Blue Grass coun- 
try lay before us, an inviting spectacle to our tired 
and hungry men. Before us, there was plenty ; behind, 
certain starvation. The enemy on our front, com- 
manded by General Mauson, was about 8,000 strong. 
Our effective force, including Cleburne's and 
Churchill's Divisions, and Scott's cavalry, was less 
than 6,000. 

**Our movement had been so completely covered 
and so rapidly executed that the enemy, ignorant of 
our numbers or purposes, were taken by surprise; and 
had they known we were the head of a strong column, 
moving to occupy the country, and not a raiding force 
as they believed, instead of meeting us in the open 
country in front of Richmond, Kentucky, they would 
have opposed us in the passes and strong positions of 
the Cumberland Mountains, or would have posted 
themselves along the high bluffs and precipices of_^the 
Kentucky River, where they could have successfully 
resisted the passage of even a greatly superior force. 

**The order was given to attack at daylight. The 
3rd of August dawned bright, clear and beautiful. 
The enemy occupied both sides of the Richmond pike, 

15 ^09 



General Kirby- Smith 

with his artillery in the centre. Cleburne's Division 
was formed on the right of the pike, with his artillery 
on his left. Churchill, with one brigade of his Divi- 
sion, was directed to move by his left under cover of 
ravines, concealed from the enemy and debouching on 
his left and rear to cut off his retreat from Richmond. 
The other brigade was held in reserve and Martin's 
Florida Battery was directed to take position on a ris- 
ing ground to the front and left of the pike. Cle- 
burne, apprised of Churchill's movement, was ordered 
to hold the enemy in check, until it was fully devel- 
oped. The infantry fire became severe, and the 
enemy, advancing in line, attempted to turn our right. 
Cleburne was wounded early in the action and was 
taken to the rear, but Preston Smith skillfully foiled 
the movement by a charge of his whole division, which 
broke the enemy, driving him from the field in con- 
fusion. Churchill reached his position in time to 
pour a volley upon the retreating column, but not 
in time to intercept their retreat. This was the com- 
bat of Mount Zion of the Battle of Richmond. A few 
prisoners and some ambulance and ammunition 
wagons fell into our hands. We lost several gallant 
officers and a number of men. 

''The loss of the enemy was much heavier, and 
though beaten and driven from the field, he received 
reenforcements, rallied within a mile and renewed 
the fight with rifled artillery. At one o'clock our 

2IO 



General Kirby-Smith 

entire line advanced. The firing was heavy and the 
skirmishers were rapidly driven in. The main force 
of the enemy was massed in front of Churchill and 
concealed from view. Rising, they delivered a volley 
at short range. Our line wavered, but Churchill's 
voice rang out above the roar, steadying his men and 
ordering a charge. The enemy was broken, almost 
at the point of the bayonet. The Federals were again 
driven from the field, one gun and several hundred 
prisoners taken. But not yet beaten, they rallied 
under the cover of the stone walls in front of Rich- 
mond. Thus ended the combat of Wheat's Farm. 

**It was now three o'clock. Our men had been 
marching and fighting since daylight, without water. 
A halt was ordered and the command was given a 
rest. Certain of victory in the final encounter, Scott 
was ordered to move rapidly with his whole cavalry 
force and to occupy the roads leading out of Rich- 
mond toward Lexington. He was told that within 
thirty minutes from the opening of the battle the 
enemy would be in full retreat, and that he would be 
held responsible for the capture of the entire force. 

"At five o'clock we moved forward and found the 
enemy strongly posted in the outskirts of Richmond 
on a line covered by stone fences running along the 
crest of the hill through the cemetery. They had been 
strongly reenforced, and Major-General Nelson, com- 
manding the Department, had arrived and taken 

211 



General Kirby-Smith 

command. Their force was over 10,000, of which 
2,500 were veterans and the remainder newly organ- 
ized commands from the camps of instruction. 

*'McKnay's Texas Brigade was ordered to turn 
their right, while Preston Smith advanced steadily on 
their left and centre. The fighting was vigorous and 
the loss heavy on both sides. McKnay succeeded in 
flanking, and Preston Smith with a dashing charge 
under a murderous fire, captured the cemetery. A 
charge was now ordered along the entire line and the 
enemy were pressed through the town. They made 
a feeble attempt to rally, but a few shells completed 
the confusion and they were driven along the Lexing- 
ton pike, cavalry, infantry, artillery and wagons, a 
confused mob of fugitives. 

**The sun was setting; our troops had driven the 
enemy over ten miles of broken country and had 
fought the whole day ; our reserves had all been called 
into action and our men, exhausted and broken down, 
were unable to pursue, and the enemy was left to be 
dealt with by Scott's cavalry. That officer masked a 
battery on the Lexington pike to sweep that road and 
concealed his men on either side. The poor, discom- 
fited fugitives rushed pell-mell into the ambuscade. 
The havoc was frightful. They threw down their 
arms and surrendered in crowds. But few escaped. 
General Mauson was captured here. General Nelson 
was taken also, but escaped in the confusion and dark- 

212 



General Kirby-Smith 

ness, and hid himself in a field of corn. In fact, we 
had no adequate guard for the prisoners, and some 
thousands walked away in the night. The next day 
about 6,000 were paroled. 

''Thus ended the Battle of Richmond, a complete 
victory. The enemy, by General Mauson's statement, 
numbered over 10,000; our force, including Scott's 
cavalry, was about 6,000. We lost in killed and 
wounded under 500, the enemy over 1,000. All their 
trains and artillery fell into our hands, and as the 
fruit of our victory, all Kentucky to the Ohio was 
at our feet. We entered Lexington on the 2nd of 
September. This, with the possession of the Blue 
Grass region, was the objective point of the cam- 
paign. 

''Immediately after the Battle of Richmond, Bragg 
was despatched and urged to move into Kentucky 
and, effecting a junction with my command and hold- 
ing Buell's communications, to give battle to him with 
superior forces and with certainty of success. Gen- 
eral Heth had now joined me with reenforcements. 
General John H. Morgan reached Lexington the day 
after my arrival, having destroyed the tunnel on the 
Louisville and Nashville Railroad and rendered that 
road useless to the enemy as a means of communica- 
tion. My force was now fully 11,000 men, exclusive 
of Scott's and Morgan's cavalry, some 2,000 strong. 
Humphrey Marshall was entering Kentucky from 

213 



General Kirby- Smith 

West Virginia by Pound Gap, with a column of 
about 6,000. 

"I had moved into Kentucky on my own responsi- 
bility as the only feasible mode of investing Cumber- 
land Gap. Its occupation implied the evacuation of 
the Gap and the throwing out of General G. W. Mor- 
gan from the campaign, if not the capture of his 
entire force. Upon entering the State, I had issued 
the following address to the citizens : 

" 'Kentuckians — The Army of the Confederate 
States has again entered your territory under my 
command. Let no one make you believe that we come 
as invaders, to coerce your will or to exercise control 
over your soil. Far from it. The principle we main- 
tain is, that government derives its just power from 
the consent of the governed. 

" *I shall enforce the strictest discipline in order 
that the property of citizens and non-combatants may 
be protected. I shall be compelled to procure subsis- 
tence for my troops among you, and this shall be paid 
for. 

" 'Kentuckians, we come not as invaders, but as 
liberators. We come in the spirit of your Resolutions 
of 1798. We come to arouse you from the lethargy 
which enshrouds your free thought, and forbodes the 
political death of your State. We come to test the 
truth of what we believe to be a foul aspersion, that 
Kentuckians willingly join the attempt to subjugate 
us and deprive us of our property, our liberty, and 
our dearest rights. We come to strike off the chains 

214 



General Kirby- Smith 

which are riveted upon you. We call upon you to 
unite your arms and join with us in hurling back from 
our fair and sunny plains the Northern hordes which 
would deprive us of our liberty that they may enjoy 
our substance. 

** 'Are we deceived? Can you treat us as enemies? 
Our hearts answer, No ! 

(Signed) " 'E. Kirby Smith, 

"'Major-General C. S. A.' ' 

**My purpose now was to hold my command in 
hand and, controlling the State to the Ohio, raise 
recruits, collect supplies and keep in readiness to join 
Bragg promptly on receipt of instructions to that 
effect. A small force (Cleburne's Division) was 
pushed towards Louisville, while Heth with the main 
column threatened Cincinnati. The occupation of 
Louisville might have endangered my concentration 
with Bragg and opened a line of retreat for the Fed- 
eral General Morgan through Lexington. While our 
concentration, once effected, Buell's defeat was cer- 
tain, and not only Louisville and Cincinnati, but the 
Northwest would be the points of victory. On the 
receipt of my dispatch announcing the victory at 
Richmond, General Bragg wrote that he would move 
at once into Kentucky. On the 13th of September, 
he reached Glasgow, Kentucky; and on the 17th, 
Mumfordsville, a fortified post on the line of Buell's 
communications, was surrendered with its garrison of 
4,000 men. 

215 



General Kirby-Smith 

"Bragg was now in position to close the campaign 
with complete success. Up to this point his strategy- 
was good, and had he called my command to his sup- 
port, holding Buell's line of communication and retreat 
upon Louisville, the latter' s destruction was <;ertain. 
My instructions from General Bragg now were to hold 
my position and watch the Federal General Morgan. 
From this time all my movements were made under 
orders from General Bragg and in strict accordance 
with his instructions. 

"My command was withdrawn from Covington and 
held in hand ready to co-operate with Bragg. Cle- 
burne's and Churchill's Divisions remained in front 
of Louisville on the Shelby ville pike. John H. Mor- 
agn's cavalry had been directed upon the rear of 
Cumberland Gap with instructions to hold the Fed- 
eral force in check should it evacuate the Gap, while 
Stevenson was directed to push it vigorously in the 
rear. I received notification of the evacuation of 
Cumberland Gap on the 24th, too late to intercept 
General George W. Morgan, who, moving to the 
right by Manchester and West Liberty to the Little 
Sandy, escaped with the loss of some artillery and 
was thrown out of the campaign. Stevenson did not 
follow beyond Manchester. 

"General Buell moved by Bowling Green upon 
Louisville. Bragg failed to attack at Cave City, and 
fell back towards Bardstown. Buell, having his imme- 

216 



General Kirby-Smith 

diate front uncovered, continued his movement upon 
Louisville and, with his entire flank exposed, passed 
unmolested immediately in front of Bragg. Buell was 
here in great peril and could have been successfully- 
attacked. 

"General Buell' s command reached Louisville on the 
25th and 26th in safety, and was reenforced by some 
40,000 troops concentrated at that point, mostly new 
levies. 

''General Bragg, accompanied by General Buckner 
and Governor Hawes, arrived at Lexington on the 2nd 
of October, and on the morning of the 3rd, directed 
the concentration of my command at Frankfort for 
the inauguration of Governor Hawes, which he 
intended should take place the next day. A dispatch 
was received from Cleburne at Shelbyville that Buell 
was moving out from Louisville with his whole com- 
mand upon three pikes, Shelbyville, Taylorsville and 
Bardstown. Reminding General Bragg of this dis- 
patch, I urged his reconsideration of the order for my 
concentration at Frankfort, and begged him to give 
up the inauguration of Governor Hawes, and to con- 
centrate at once our commands and give Buell battle ; 
that the move on Frankfort was the dividing of his 
army and the massing of its two columns at Frankfort 
and Bardstown, over sixty miles apart, while Buell was 
marching out of Louisville with his command in hand 
and in position to strike each of our columns in detail. 

217 



General Kirby-Smith 

His reply was that he could crush Buell with his own 
command alone and that he should carry out his in- 
tention of inaugurating Governor Hawes at Frank- 
fort. I then saw General Buckner and asked him 
to go at once to General Bragg and, as a Kentuckian, 
knowing the country, to lay the danger of our move- 
ment before General Bragg and urge the abandon- 
ment of the Frankfort concentration and inaugura- 
tion. General Buckner informed me afterwards that 
he had done so, but could not change General Bragg 
from his purpose. 

"Stevenson with ii,ooo, Heth from Georgetown 
with 7,000, and Humphrey Marshall with 5,000 moved 
on Frankfort, and on the 3rd of October, 23,000 good 
troops were concentrated at Frankfort. On the 4th, 
Cleburne, 5,000 strong, fell back from Shelbyville 
on Frankfort before Sill's Division. Sill's guns on 
the 4th, in front of Frankfort, closed the inauguration 
of Governor Hawes ; and General Bragg, ordering the 
destruction of the bridge over the Kentucky River and 
the evacuation of Frankfort and the retreat of my 
column, hastened to his command at Bardstown. 
Withers' Division of Bragg' s column was ordered to 
occupy Salvisa on the night of the 8th and arrest the 
march of Sill's column moving towards Perry ville, 
while my command, by a night march, was to attack 
in the rear about daylight of the same night, ^ill 
passed through Salvisa before Withers occupied that 

218 



General Kirby- Smith 

place, and effected his junction with Buell's main 
column. News of the battle of Perryville on the 8th 
of October reached me on the evening of the 9th, with 
orders to join Bragg at Harrodsburg. The head of 
my column by a night march entered Harrodsburg 
early on the morning of the loth and I reported in 
person to General Bragg at that place. The rear of 
his column was moving out of Harrodsburg in re- 
treat on Camp Dick Robertson as I entered. I re- 
ported my arrival at Harrodsburg, with 30,000 men, 
to Generaf Bragg, and urged the countermarch of his 
column and the giving of battle to Buell at that place; 
that he had for the first time since his arrival in 
Kentucky concentrated his command, and that he 
could put nearly 60,000 veterans in line of battle. My 
words were: 'For God's sake, General, let us fight 
Buell here. I believe that without a command even, 
our men would run over Buell's army, composed as it 
is of more than half new levies.' General Bragg's 
reply was to me: 'I will do it, sir. Select your posi- 
tion, put your men in line of battle and I will counter- 
march my column.' 

''I was occupied the whole morning in putting my 
command in line of battle amidst shouts and great en- 
thusiasm, promising the men a fight on the morrow 
and a victory over the enemy. In the evening I 
received an order from Bragg directing me to take up 
my line and march on Camp Dick Robertson; that he 

219 



General Kirby-Smith 

had decided to retreat and not to fight Buell. I 
moved upon Camp Dick Robertson and the campaign 
ended most ingloriously, and for the first time in the 
history of the Confederacy, an army of veterans 
retreated before an inferior force largely made up of 
new levies. The concentration from the three Depart- 
ments of West Virginia, East Tennessee and Missis- 
sippi was scattered to the four winds. Humphrey 
Marshall, by Pound Gap, was ordered back to West 
Virginia. The Army of East Tennessee, by Big 
Creek and Cumberland Gaps, to East Tennessee ; and 
Bragg, posting in person to Richmond to lay his case 
before the President of the Confederate States, or- 
dered the Army of the Mississippi back to Middle 
Tennessee." 

In the Battle of Richmond, General Kirby-Smith 
won the admiration of his men, who declared that he 
was the ''greatest General of them all;" and that he 
was "dashing about bareheaded (having lost his hat), 
in the thickest of the fights, cheering his men and 
being himself everywhere at the right time." 

"He led the last charge in person," says one who 
witnessed the battle, "and when he returned, some of 
the Arkansas troops who did not know who he was, 
but recognized him as the person who had led them 
so gallantly, proposed three cheers for the 'man with 
the spectacles' which were heartily given. Just then 

220 



General Kirby-Smith 

some one coming up and telling them who he was, 
some one called out, 'General, we've cheered your 
spectacles, and now we'll cheer you,' and so they did 
most lustily." 

His military reputation was established, and his 
reception in Lexington, where he arrived on the 4th 
of September, was most enthusiastic. Vast quantities 
of stores of all kinds, arms, ammunition wagons, 
horses and mules came into his possession and he was 
received by the people of the region with marked 
attention, the leading Union men with the Legislature 
having fled to Louisville. Recruiting camps were 
established in the neighborhood of Lexington for the 
formation of cavalry regiments. 

The victorious forces marched from Lexington 
through Paris and Cynthiana to within a short dis- 
tance of Cincinnati, which took alarm at their 
approach. The orders were given **to menace, not to 
attack" Cincinnati; and General Kirby-Smith re- 
gretfully retired from before the Queen City of the 
West and arrived in Frankfort on the 4th of Octo- 
ber. Orders were received too late for him to engage 
in the Battle of Perryville. He arrived in Harrods- 
burg, where he joined the main army on the 9th of 
October. 

It was at Harrodsburg that an incident occurred, 
related in Bishop Quintard's Memoirs of the War, 
which illustrates the deep religious character of Gen- 

221 



General Kirby-Smith 

eral Kirby-Smith. The Bishop relates that at the 
request of General Polk, who was also Bishop Polk, 
he went into the church in Harrodsburg, said the lit- 
any and other prayers with the Bishop-General and 
gave him the benediction from the office for the visita- 
tion of the sick. '* Shortly after this service," con- 
tinued Bishop Quintard, ** General Kirby-Smith 
begged me that he might go to the church with me, 
so I returned, and he too was refreshed at God's 
altar." 

There was an engagement of five hours between a 
part of General Kirby-Smith* s forces and a detach- 
ment of the P'ederals on the loth of October, and then 
the army pursued its way unmolested, reaching Knox- 
ville on the 24th of October. The General was absent 
a short time on leave, in consequence of ill health, but 
returned to his post early in November, retaining com- 
mand of the East Tennessee Department. 



222 



CHAPTER XII 
IN THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT 

Many were the letters of congratulation received 
by General Kirby-Smith from his fellow-officers upon 
his military successes in the Kentucky campaign, and 
the Confederate Congress passed a joint resolution 
of thanks for the battle of Richmond, to him and his 
lieutenants so specially commended by him, and to 
all the officers and soldiers of his command in that 
battle. He was also promoted to Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral. He was, however, disappointed at the result 
of the Kentucky Campaign and wrote to President 
Davis asking to be relieved from his command in 
Bragg' s army, and to be assigned to duty in Ala- 
bama and Mississippi. On the 29th of October, Pres- 
ident Davis wrote to him as follows: 

"General Bragg cannot move into Middle Tennes- 
see with prospect of success without your co-opera- 
tion. You are nov/ second in rank and possess to 
an eminent degree the confidence of the country. Your 
own corps could not be so usefully led by another com- 
mander. How then can I withdraw you or withhold 
your troops.? Your Department will remain to you. 
Such part of your force as can be spared from it for 

223 



General Kirby- Smith 

the present, you can lead with the army of General 
Bragg into Middle Tennessee. 

"If I were sure that General Bragg could get, say 
30,000 new troops in Tennessee, I would not hesitate, 
upon your request, to assign you to the duty of cover- 
ing Mobile, Columbus and Vicksburg, by placing your 
army at Selma and Meridian to act as might be neces- 
sary. We dare not rely on the promised aid, however 
we may hope to receive it. . . . May God direct and 
protect you, is the sincere prayer of your friend. 

"Before closing I will renew my thanks to your 
brave troops for your patient fortitude and heroic 
daring on the march, and in the battle during your 
campaign in Kentucky." 

The following description of him at this time may 
be found in the Southern Historical Society Papers: 

"General Kirby-Smith is comparatively young — 
just fairly entering upon the prime of life. He is 
thirty-seven. You would not be impressed upon see- 
ing him as by a man of remarkable intellectual endow- 
ments, but the phrenologist would say that his high, 
receding forehead, narrow at the base, but prominent 
over the eyes and widening as it ascends, gives 
evidence, if not of great mental powers, of uncommon 
quickness of perception and rapid mental movements. 
Tall, sinewy, not ungraceful, every gesture indicates 
intense physical activity and muscular vigor. In per- 
fect health, blackhaired, blackbearded and mustached, 
slightly graying; black eyes, penetrating and restless; 

224 



General Kirby-Smith 

swarthy complexion; the simple statement of these 
features might give the idea of only the rude, rough 
soldier ; but on the contrary, .... I have known no 
officer of the army more habitually under the influences 
of the kindlier virtues and emotions. An earnest 
Christian and a gentleman, pleasant manners flow 
naturally from the goodness of his heart, while an 
implusive temper is kept under almost perfect control. 
At this time he was little known to the country. A 
grand charge at Manassas, which he led with dashing 
courage, routing the enemy and deciding the victory; 
a wound believed to be mortal and nearly proving so, 
had given rank to the man who had led five and 
twenty thousand soldiers into one of the most hazard- 
ous, and up to a certain point, most brilliant cam- 
paigns of modern warfare. If Morgan had been cap- 
tured and Louisville had been occupied, ensuring the 
overthrow of Buell, as some military critics are say- 
ing (and not without a show of reason, it must be 
confessed) might have been done, the name of Kirby- 
Smith would have been placed at once high upon the 
roll of great Captains." 

The General had a decided preference for a life of 
active service in the field. In January, 1863, however, 
he was called to Richmond to assist in the re-organiza- 
tion of the Confederate Army, and the following 
month he was appointed by the President to the com- 
mand of the Department West of the Mississippi. 
At first he demurred, saying to the President: "Am 
I then to be sent into exile.?" 

16 225 



General Kirby- Smith 

But he was prevailed upon to accept the appointment 
to the comparatively remote and quiet region, and in 
the early part of April he arrived in Alexandria, 
Louisiana, which had been named as his headquarters. 

On the 7th of March, 1863, he assumed command of 
all the Confederate forces West of the Mississippi, 
through general orders; thereby relieving General 
Holmes, who continued in service under him. The 
following May, he removed his headquarters to 
Shreveport, took command of the Trans-Mississippi 
Department, comprising Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas 
and Indian Territory, and began the organization of 
the government there, as he had been directed to do. 
So successful was he in his administration of the 
affairs of his department that the Confederacy 
established a Postoffice Department there, and a 
branch of the Treasury Department. 

After the surrender of Vicksburg, the Mississippi 
River was in possession of the Federal Army, the 
Trans-Mississippi Department was cut off from the 
Confederate States of the East, and the transmission 
of troops, or even of orders, was attended with almost 
insuperable difficulties, rendering the Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department virtually independent and self-sus- 
taining ; requiring the exercise of plenary powers on 
the part of the Commanding General. In fact, it is 
related that when President Davis explained to the 
General that he wanted him to exercise civil as well 

226 



General Kirby-Smith 

as military authority, the General protested that there 
was no constitutional authority for his doing so. The 
President, however, urged that the exigencies of the 
case demanded it and were superior to all law. The 
latter thereupon gave to the General verbal instruc- 
tions which it was said he would not have dared to 
commit to writing. 

With full control and unlimited command over the 
vast territory. General Kirby-Smith thoroughly 
organized the Department, gathered the scattered 
forces, brought order out of confusion and established 
strong government. He called together the governors 
of the States, the Judges of the Supreme Courts, and 
other prominent officials for consultation, and on the 
1 8th of August, 1863, the Governors united in an 
"Address to the People of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas 
and Missouri, and the Allied Indian Nations," in 
which they unanimously * 'sustained the vigorous and 
decided policy he proposed to pursue." 

"We are fortunate," declared the address, "in the 
military chief of this Department. In the prime of 
life, of large experience, active, intelligent and with 
the prestige of uniform success in his undertakings, 
he is guided by a profound respect for law and the 
constitutional rights of the citizens. Reposing full 
trust in him, we cordially commend him to your 
entire confidence and support. In view of the exist- 
ing state of your affairs he has been clothed with 

227 



General Kirby-Smith 

more than usual powers by the President, to be exer- 
cised within the bounds of Constitution and the law. 
These just and legal powers he may have to exert 
promptly and boldly to their fullest extent, for the 
common good ; in so doing he will receive the zealous 
support of every patriot." 

The General gave immediate attention to the eco- 
nomic conditions of his Department; took steps to 
learn the whole resources of the country — mineral, 
agricultural and manufacturing ; and made wise use of 
the information he collated. He made his communi- 
cations with the Confederate capital by running the 
blockade at Galveston, Texas, and Wilmington, North 
Carolina; sent large quantities of cotton to Confeder- 
ate agents abroad ; introduced machinery from Europe ; 
established factories and machine shops and salt 
works; manufactured and traded with England, and 
so made the Department the only really productive 
portion of the Confederacy. Texas was a cotton pro- 
ducing State, and though her navigable rivers were 
not then available for trade, and she had none of the 
railroads she has at present, ox and mule teams 
brought cotton over the plains for great distances — 
four hundred miles in some instances — to Browns- 
ville, whence it was exported. Through his cotton 
bureau the General bought it at three and four cents 
a pound and sold it at fifty cents a pound in gold, and 
it passed in constant streams, in defiance of blockades, 

228 



General Kirby-Smith 

to the agents of the Department abroad. It is esti- 
mated that in 1863-64 more than 500,000 bales of cot- 
ton reached Europe by these means. Texas escaped 
the destruction which fell upon the other States of the 
Confederacy, and there the crops of grain were the 
largest ever known. She was accordingly able to sup- 
ply the adjacent parts of the country with grain, beef 
and mutton, and emphasized to the Federals the im- 
portance of the possession of the Mississippi River. 
The forces of the Trans-Mississippi Department 
were not wholly withdrawn from the scenes of war. 
Of the military operations in which they were 
engaged in the defense of the Red River, and the 
repulse of the invasion of General Banks, we have the 
narrative of the Military Chief, who was on the igth of 
February, 1864, advanced to the rank of full General 
in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, 
being one of seven to attain to that rank in the Con- 
federate Army, and one of that distinguished group 
comprising Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, 
Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston,: G/P) T. Beaure- 
gard, and Braxton Bragg, and having no one above 
him in rank West of the Mississippi. This narrative 
was taken chiefly from two official letters written by 
him to the President of the Confederate States, while 
the events were fresh in the writer's mind and before 
either prejudice or any personal animus could have 
biased his feelings : 

229 



General Kirby- Smith 

"Soon after my arrival in the Trans-Mississippi 
Department," wrote General Kirby-Smith, ''I became 
convinced that the valley of the Red River was the 
only practicable line of operations by which the 
enemy could penetrate the country. The fact was 
well understood and appreciated by their Generals. 
I addressed myself to the task of defending this line 
with the slender means at my disposal. Fortifica- 
tions were erected on the Lower Red River ; Shreve- 
port and Camden were fortified, and works were 
ordered on the Sabine and the crossings of the Upper 
Red. Depots were established on the shortest lines 
of communication between the Red River Valley and 
the troops serving in Arkansas and Texas. Those 
commands were directed to be held ready to move 
with little delay, and every preparation was made in 
advance for accelerating a concentration, at all times 
difficult over long distances, and through a country 
destitute of supplies and with limited means of trans- 
portation. 

"In February, 1864, the enemy was preparing in 
New Orleans, Vicksburg and Little Rock for offensive 
operations. Though 25,000 of the enemy were 
reported on the Texas coast, my information convinced 
me that the valley of the Red River would be the 
principal theatre of operations and Shreveport the 
objective point of the columns moving from Arkansas 
and Louisiana. On the 21st of February, General 

230 



General Kirby-Smith 

Magruder, commanding in Texas, was ordered to hold 
Green's Division of cavalry in readiness to move at a 
moment's warning, and on the 5th of March the divi- 
sion was ordered to march at once to Alexandria and 
report to General Taylor, who had command in Louis- 
iana. About that time the enemy commenced mass- 
ing his forces at Berwick Bay. 

On the I2th of March, a column of 10,000 men, 
composed of portions of the Sixteenth and Seven- 
teenth Army Corps under General A. J. Smith, 
moved down from Vicksburg to Simsport and 
advanced with such celerity on Fort DeRussy, taking 
it in reverse, that General Taylor was not allowed 
time to concentrate and cover this important work, 
our only means of arresting the progress of the gun- 
boats. The fall of this work and the immediate 
movement of the enemy, by means of his transports, to 
Alexandria, placed General Taylor in a very embarras- 
sing position. He extricated himself with his char- 
acteristic tact by a march of seventy miles through 
the pine woods. Banks now pressed forward from 
Berwick Bay, by the line of the Teche, and by the aid 
of steamers on both the Mississippi and Red Rivers, 
concentrated at Alexandria a force of over 30,000 men, 
supported by the most powerful naval armament ever 
employed on a river. 

"As soon as I received intelligence of the debark- 
ation of the enemy at Simsport, I ordered General 

231 



General Kirby-Smith 

Price, who commanded in Arkansas, to dispatch his 
entire cavalry, consisting of Churchill's and Parsons' 
Divisions, to Shreveport, and General Maxey to move 
towards General Price, and as soon as Steele advanced, 
to join Price with his whole command, Indians in- 
cluded. The cavalry east of the Ouichita was directed 
to fall back toward Natchitoches and subsequently 
to oppose, as far as possible, the advance of the 
enemy's fleet. It was under the command of General 
St. John R. Liddell. All disposable infantry in Texas 
was directed on Marshall, and although the enemy 
still had a force of several thousand on the coast, I 
reduced the number of men holding the defenses to 
an absolute minimum. General Magruder's field 
report shows that but 2,300 men were left in Texas. 
Except these, every effective soldier in the department 
was put in front of Steele or in support of Taylor. 

''The enemy was operating with a force, according 
to my information, fully 50,000 effective men. With 
the utmost powers of concentration, not 25,000 men 
of all arms could be brought to oppose his movements. 
Taylor had at Mansfield, after the junction of Green, 
11,000 effectives with 5,000 infantry from Price's 
army in one day's march of him at Keachie. Price, 
with 6,000 or 8,000 cavalry, was engaged in holding 
in check the advance of Steele, whose column, accord- 
ing to our information, did not number less than 
15,000 of all arms. Shreveport was made the point 

232 



General Kirby- Smith 

of concentration; with its fortifications covering the 
depots, arsenals, and shops at Jefferson, Marshall 
and above, it was a strategic point of vital impor- 
tance. All the infantry, not with Taylor opposed to 
Banks, was directed on Shreveport. Price with his 
cavalry command was instructed to delay the march 
of Steel's column whilst the concentration was being 
made. Occupying a central position at Shreveport, 
with the enemy's columns approaching from opposite 
directions, I proposed drawing them within striking 
distance, when by concentrating upon and striking 
them in detail, both columns might be crippled or 
destroyed. 

''Banks pushed on to Natchitoches. It was ex- 
pected he would be detained there several days in ac- 
cumulating supplies. Steele on the Little Missouri 
and Banks at Natchitoches were but about one hun- 
dred miles from Shreveport or Marshall. The char- 
acter of the country did not admit of their forming a 
junction above Natchitoches, and if they advanced I 
hoped by refusing one of them, to fight the other 
with my whole force. 

"It seemed probable at that time that Steele would 
advance first. When he reached Prairie d'Ane, two 
routes were open to him : the one to Marshall, cross- 
ing the river at Fulton, the other direct to Shreve- 
port. I consequently held Price's infantry, under 
Churchill, a few days at Shreveport. Steele's hesita- 

'^33 



General Kirby- Smith 

ation and the reports of the advance of Banks* cav- 
alry caused me, on the 4th of April, to move 
Churchill to Keachie, a point twenty miles in rear of 
Mansfield, where the road divides to go to Marshall 
and Shreveport. He was directed to report to Gen- 
eral Taylor. I now visited and conferred with Gen- 
eral Taylor. He believed that General Banks could 
not yet advance his infantry across the barren country 
lying between Natchitoches and Mansfield. 

**I returned to Shreveport and wrote General Tay- 
lor not to risk a general engagement, but to select a po- 
sition in which to give battle should Banks advance, 
and by a reconnoisance in force to compel the enemy 
to display his infantry and to notify me as soon as he 
had done so, and I would join him in the front. 

**The reconnoisance was converted into a decisive 
engagement near Mansfield, on the 8th of April, with 
the advance of the enemy (a portion of the Thirteenth 
Corps and his cavalry) ; and by the rare intrepidity of 
Mouton's Division resulted in a complete victory over 
the forces engaged. The battle of Mansfield was not 
an intentional violation, on General Taylor's part, of 
my instructions. The Federal cavalry had pushed 
forward so far in advance of their column as to com- 
pletely cover its movements, and General Taylor 
reported to me by dispatch at 12 meridian of the day 
on which the battle took place, that there was no 
advance made from Grand Ecore except of cavalry. 

234 



General Kirby-Smith 

In fact, however, General Franklin with his infantry 
was on the march, and at once pushed forward to the 
support of the cavalry. When General Mouton with 
his division drove in the cavalry, he strucic the head 
of Franklin's troops, and by a vigorous and able 
attack, without waiting for orders from Taylor, re- 
pulsed and drove back Franklin's advance and opened 
the battle of Mansfield, which, when Taylor came to 
the front, with his accustomed boldness and vigor he 
pushed to a complete success. 

** Churchill with his infantry, under Tappan and 
Parsons, joined Taylor that night. The next morn- 
ing Taylor, advancing in force, found the enemy in 
position at Pleasant Hill. Our troops attacked with 
vigor and at first with success; but, exposing their 
right flank, were finally repulsed and thrown into con- 
fusion. The Missouri and Arkansas troops, with a 
brigade of Walker's Division, were broken and scat- 
tered. The enemy recovered cannon which we had 
captured the day before ; and two of our pieces, with 
the dead and wounded, were left on the field. Our 
repulse at Pleasant Hill was so complete, and our com- 
mand was so disorganized that had Banks followed up 
his success vigorously he would have met with but 
feeble opposition to his advance on Shreveport. 

''Having ridden forward at 2 a.m. on receipt of 
Taylor's report of the Battle of Mansfield, I joined 
Taylor after dark on the 8th, a few yards in the rear 

'^3S 



General Kirby-Smith 

of the battlefield of that day. Polignac's (previously 
Mouton's) Division of Louisiana infantry was all that 
was intact of Taylor's force. Assuming command, 
I countermanded the order that had been given for 
the retreat of Polignac's Division, and was consult- 
ing with General Taylor when some stragglers from 
the battlefield, where our wounded were still lying, 
brought the intelligence that Banks had precipitately 
retreated after the battle, converting a victory which 
he might have claimed, into a defeat. Our troops 
in rear rallied and the field was next day occupied 
by us. 

''Banks continued his retreat to Grand Ecore, where 
he intrenched himself and remained until the return 
of his fleet and its safe passage over the bars, made 
especially difficult this season by the unusual fall of 
the river. 

**Our troops were completely paralyzed and dis- 
organized by the repulse at Pleasant Hill, and the 
cavalry, worn by its long march from Texas, had been 
constantly engaged for three days, almost without 
food or forage. Before we could reorganize at Mans- 
field and get into condition to advance over the fifty- 
five miles of wilderness that separated our armies, 
the enemy had been reenforced and intrenched at 
Grand Ecore. The enemy held possession of the river 
until he evacuated Grand Ecore. 

"Steele was slowly advancing from the Little Mis- 

236 



General Kirby- Smith 

souri to the Prairie d'Ane. I deemed it imprudent to 
follow Banks below Grand Ecore with my whole force, 
and leave Steele so near Shreveport. Even had I 
been able to throw Banks across the Atchafalaya, the 
high water of that stream would have arrested my 
farther progress. An intercepted dispatch from 
General Sherman to General A. J. Smith, directing 
the immediate return of the latter' s force to Vicks- 
burg, removed the last doubt in my mind that Banks 
would withdraw to Alexandria as rapidly as possible, 
and it was hoped that the Falls would detain his fleet 
there until we could dispose of Steele, when the entire 
force of the Department would be free to operate 
against him. I confidently hoped, if I could reach 
Steele with my infantry, to beat him at a distance 
from his depot, in a poor country, and with my large 
cavalry force to destroy his army. The prize would 
have been the Arkansas Valley and the powerful for- 
tifications of Little Rock. Steele's defeat or retreat 
would leave me in position promptly to support Tay- 
lor's operations against Banks. 

"Leaving Taylor with his cavalry, now under Whar- 
ton, and the Louisiana Division of infantry under 
Polignac, to follow up Bank's retreat, and taking the 
Texas, Arkansas and Missouri Divisions of infantry, 
I moved against Steele's column in Arkansas. Steele 
entered Camden, where he was too strong for the 
assault, but the capture of his train at the Battle of 



General Kirby- Smith 

Mark's Mill on the 25th of April forced him to evac- 
uate Camden on the 28th, and the Battle of Jenkins* 
Ferry on the Saline, April 30th, completed his dis- 
comfiture. He retreated to Little Rock. Churchill, 
Parsons and Walker were at once marched across 
the country to the support of Taylor, but before the 
juncture could be effected. Banks had gone. 

*'To return to Taylor; after the enemy left Grand 
Ecore, General Taylor attacked his rear at Cloutier- 
ville, whilst a detachment under Bee held the Federal 
advance in check at Monette's Ferry. General Tay- 
lor's force was, however, too weak to warrant the hope 
that he could seriously impede the march of Banks' 
column. After the latter reached Alexandria, General 
Taylor transferred a part of his command to the river 
below Alexandria, and with unparalleled audacity and 
great ability and success, operated on the enemy's 
gunboats and transports. 

**The construction of the dam, aided by a tem- 
porary rise in Red River, enabled Admiral Porter to 
get his fleet over the Falls. Had he delayed but one 
week longer, our whole infantry force would have been 
united against him. Banks evacuated Alexandria on 
the 1 2th and 13th of May, the fleet quitted the Red 
River and the campaign ended with the occupation of 
all the country we had held at the beginning, as well 
as of the lower Teche. The operations of Taylor on 
Red River and Marmaduke on the Mississippi, pre- 

238 



General Kirby-Smith 

vented A. J. Smith from obeying Sherman's order to 
return to Vicksburg in time for the Atlanta cam- 
paign." 

The campaign of General Banks which thus came 
to naught, involved that General in a lifelong quarrel 
with some of his coadjutors; and the Committee of 
the Federal Congress on the Conduct of the War, 
after an investigation in 1865, brought in charges 
against him, that what he had in view was to establish 
a State government in Louisiana and to afford an 
egress for cotton and other products of the region; 
and that the attention diverted to these objects had 
exerted an unfavorable influence upon the expedition. 

The military operations of the Trans-Mississippi 
Department in opposition to the Banks expedition 
likewise resulted in a misunderstanding between 
General Kirby-Smith and some of the ill-advised 
friends of General Dick Taylor. To the earliest pub- 
lished criticisms of General Kirby-Smith's conduct of 
affairs in his Department, General Taylor himself 
replied, and this should have made unnecessary any 
further newspaper war. But not only was the dis- 
cussion continued in the newspapers of the Depart- 
ment, but it was in time transferred from Louisiana 
to Richmond; and The Whig oi that city published 
communications and editorials, denunciatory of the 
Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, 

239 



General Kirby- Smith 

declaring that he had it at one time in his power to 
secure the permanent safety of the Department ; to 
capture the city of New Orleans; to so cripple the 
enemy east of the Mississippi as to enable General 
Early to capture the city of Washington, and to en- 
able the Army of the Tennessee to drive Sherman 
back upon his defences before he could reach Atlanta. 
This auspicious occasion was after the battle of 
Pleasant Hill. The brilliant opportunity to accom- 
plish the complete overthrow of the Federal govern- 
ment and the triumph of the Confederate arms, was 
thrown away by General Kirby-Smith's ordering a 
portion of the force under the command of General 
Dick Taylor into Arkansas for the purpose of oppos- 
ing and driving back the column of General Steele. 
This altogether untenable theory of the conduct of 
the war was made to emphasize the charge that Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith was incompetent. 

The General was not without friends to reply to all 
the aspersions cast upon his character and compe- 
tency, and the public press contained long controver- 
sies on the conduct of affairs in the Department. On 
the 9th of March, 1865, the General wrote to Presi- 
dent Davis as follows : 

**I have been attacked in the columns of the Rich- 
mond IVAi^. I know that efforts have been made 
through other journals east of the Mississippi to pre- 

240 



General Kirby-Smith 

judice the public mind and destroy confidence in the 
purity of my motives and in my ability to command. 
''While giving my energies to the maintenance 
and defense of the Department especially entrusted 
to my charge, I have ever felt the deepest interest in 
the struggle elsewhere ; and have never failed to co- 
operate with the means at my disposal in ensuring its 
success. I have faithfully and honestly, to the extent 
of my abilities, discharged the great duties confided 
to me. I do not know that I have given you entire 
satisfaction. I do know that you are often embar- 
rassed in doing what you believe to be for the general 
good. I desire to aid and not embarrass you in your 
action, and request that this letter may be regarded as 
an application to be relieved from the command of 
the Department whenever you believe that the public 
interests will be advanced thereby." 

The Trans-Mississippi Department had its enemies 
in the Congress of the Confederate States, though 
it apparently had a staunch friend to the very end, in 
the President of the Confederacy. In the latter part 
of the year 1864, there were successive resolutions 
introduced into Congress evidently intended to annoy 
the President with regard to the Department. Con- 
gress wanted to know the amount of money expended 
upon the Department, since General Kirby-Smith 
assumed command. It wanted to investigate the 



17 



241 



General Kirby-Smith 

reports of the military operations there. It wanted 
a thorough investigation of the cotton transactions in 
the Department and of the alleged sales of cotton, by 
the authorities, to the enemy. And after the Texas 
State Legislature had by joint resolution tendered 
thanks to General Kirby-Smith for his work in the 
defense of the State from the invasion of the enemy, 
the following resolution was introduced into the Con- 
federate Congress, to be called up again and again for 
debate before it was finally adopted : 

''Resolved, That General E. Kirby-Smith has dis- 
tinguished his administration of the Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department, by his justice, his firmness and 
moderation, his integrity and conscientious regard for 
law, his unaffected kindness to the people, the protec- 
tion of their rights and the redress of their wrongs, 
and has thus won the confidence of Congress. That 
the thanks of Congress are due and are extended to 
General E. Kirby-Smith and to the commanders of 
the armies. General Sterling Price in Arkansas and 
General Richard Taylor in Louisiana, and to all officers 
and soldiers of their commands for the brilliant cam- 
paign in Arkansas and Louisiana in the months of 
April and May, 1864. That the President be requested 
to communicate these resolutions to the officers named 
and to the armies of the Trans-Mississippi." 

The Confederate Government collapsed before the 
conduct of affairs in the Trans-Mississippi Department 
could be officially investigated, or General Kirby- 

242 



General Kirby-Smith 

Smith would undoubtedly have been by this means 
cleared of any imputation of malfeasance, incompe- 
tency, or shortcomings of any kind. Vague rumors 
without any responsible persons back of them, floated 
about and gained credence in that class of people 
ever ready to believe what it suits them to believe, 
and who fail to consider that the burden of proof rests 
with the traducers of another's character. A writer 
just after the war, who was evidently not in sym- 
pathy with him, though he was a Captain in the Con- 
federate Army, furnishes us with the sum and sub- 
stance of these rumors in the following words, with 
which he concludes a biographical sketch of the 
General : 



''Various reports as to his movements and inten- 
tions were spread abroad. Some said he was nego- 
tiating for a transfer of his forces to the Emperor of 
Mexico; others that he was engaged in heavy cotton 
speculations and defied alike the North and the South ; 
and finally, that he was assassinated in a quarrel by 
an ex-oflicer of the Confederate Army, whom he had 
badly treated. But to none of these reports have we 
any positive evidence. There appears, however, to 
have been a spirit of recklessness and self-will on the 
part of all under his command ; for it was reported in 
March (1865), that his troops refused to cross the 
Mississippi when ordered, and that he himself was 
frequently coerced into measures not emanating from 
his own ideas." 

243 



General Kirby-Smith 

Without admitting the necessity of answering all 
these vague indefinite aspersions upon the General's 
character, it might be said of him as was said of Gen- 
eral Banks. The latter passed the years of his life 
subsequent to the war in honorable poverty, which 
was taken as the best answer to the charges made 
against him by his enemies. So it was with General 
Kirby-Smith, as we shall see. But further than that, 
the whole life of General Kirby-Smith, his well 
known character, the testimony of such men as Gen- 
eral Joseph E. Johnston, who pronounced him* 'The 
Chevalier Bayard, sans peter et sans reproche, of the 
Confederate Army;" the further testimony of all who 
knew him at any period of his career and who declare 
that his sense of honor and adherence to principle 
were ever his most prominent characteristics, are 
sufficient refutation of all the vague, irresponsible 
rumors set afloat regarding his character. 

Whenever a specific charge was made against him, 
the General took pains to refute it promptly and fully. 
Such refutation was published with his narrative of 
the defense of the Red River, and may be given as 
follows. The charges in this case, as in all others, 
were anonymously made : 

*'I have read the statement in which are grouped in 
detail the covert insinuations, the gossip of camps and 
capitals, and the mis-statements of well known facts, 

244 



General Kirby-Smith 

that go to make up the old story of many versions, of 
an arrangement at Washington whereby Kirby Smith's 
army 'was to recede before the army of General Banks, 
falling back through the State of Texas, and finally to 
disband. In anticipation of this,' the story continues, 
* Confederate cotton to an amount named, believed to 
be 25,000 bales, was to be gathered at convenient 
points for transportation and taken by three commis- 
sioners, residents of New Orleans, who would accom- 
pany the expedition under Banks, and sold by them ; 
the proceeds to be divided like naval prize money, 
and to go to make a fund for the benefit of such 
Confederate officers and men as might expatriate 
themselves in Brazil or some other country. General 
Banks was assigned to the command of the Army of 
the West Mississippi after this arrangement was 
entered into and before its execution, was not a party 
to it, and purposely prevented its being carried out 
by bringing on the engagement at Mansfield. After 
the navy commenced taking the cotton, claiming it 
as a prize of war, a wrangle began over it and its de- 
struction commenced.' 

"I remark in passing that neither an emphatic 
statement in regard to General Taylor nor the equally 
explicit one about the destruction of cotton, can stand 
the test of dates ; for General Taylor had been in com- 
mand since 1862, in fact, before either General Banks 
or myself, and I ordered the cotton to be burned, 



General Kirby- Smith 

in accordance with the settled policy of the Confed- 
eracy, as soon as I heard of Banks' movement, and 
before I knew of the approach of the navy. There is 
not the least foundation upon which this story could 
rest. The circumstances alleged are impossible to 
have happened without my having been a party to 
them. My power in the Trans-Mississippi Depart- 
ment was almost absolute. I bought cotton through 
my cotton bureau at three and four cents a pound and 
sold it at fifty cents a pound in gold. It passed in 
constant streams by several crossings of the Rio 
Grande, as well as through Galveston, to the agents 
abroad. It would have been absurd in me to have 
called in the devious and uncertain agency of a Fed- 
eral army and of cotton speculators from within the 
Union lines, when I could at any time have safely 
exported and placed to my credit abroad, thousands 
of bales of cotton." 

Probably the most annoying of all the rumors cir- 
culated about the General was the wholly baseless 
one accusing him of speculating in cotton to his own 
personal advantage. The cotton transactions of the 
Trans-Mississippi Department gave rise to suits at 
law in the Federal Courts of the United States, in 
which the Federal Government, and the Navy Depart- 
ment were involved as parties, and in which the 
transactions were investigated in all their x'^rious 

246 



General Kirby- Smith 

phases; and nothing was found that could by any 
possibility implicate General Kirby-Smith in any 
questionable transaction. The agent of the Confed- 
erate Government, alleged to have been his private 
agent, appeared before a special committee from the 
Federal Treasury Department and gave apparently 
satisfactory evidence regarding the nature of his mis- 
sion to England, in the course of which he emphat- 
ically and indignantly denied the rumored report that 
he had acted as General Kirby-Smith 's private agent 
for the disposal of cotton for the General's private 
account, or that the General was capable of such a 
thing as was alleged of him. The Committee replied : 
"Set your mind at rest upon that score. We know 
all about it. We have investigated that thing to the 
bottom. There is no Confederate officer West of the 
Mississippi river implicated in any of the cotton 
frauds except one: that is Major B ." 

While a few of the newspapers were critical of the 
General's character and conduct at the time when the 
Confederacy was about to collapse and men were 
becoming in their despondency censorious, the major- 
ity were disposed to take a sane view of the situation 
and to defend the General from unjust attacks. 
''Every one who knows General Kirby-Smith, per- 
sonally, or has known him before," declared one of 
the Texas papers in March, 1865, ''will at once 

247 



General Kirby-Smith 

recognize the absurdity of attributing to him any 
conduct unworthy a Christian and a gentleman, and 
the much greater absurdity of supposing that he 
would do any act to tarnish the brilliant military 
reputation which secures him not only place and 
power (which to the patriot are minor considerations) 
but also the confidence and esteem of his country- 
men and the gratitude of posterity." 

A week later another paper pursuing the same sub- 
ject declared: "We are just as capable of distrust of 
Robert E. Lee as of Kirby-Smith. The one not more 
than the other is the soul of honor, conscientiousness 
and fidelity to the sternest, strictest duty. General 
Jo. Johnston fitly designated him 'the Chevalier Bay- 
ard of the Southern Army.' " 

Testimony such as this as to the character of Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith might be multiplied indefinitely 
from Confederate sources. But here is some from 
another source which can surely not be suspected of 
any favorable bias. A correspondent of the New 
York Worlds writing in July, 1865, to contradict the 
report, then widely circulated, that the Confederate 
soldiers and officers were colonizing in Mexico, bent 
upon mischief, wrote that a few only were in Mexico, 
and these desired to return if the exceptions to the 
amnesty then in vogue should be revoked in their 
favor, and added: * 'There is no design on their part, as 
I am credibly informed, to enter the military service 

248 



General Kirby-Smith 

of Mexico. If other resources fail, they may be com- 
pelled to do so. Nor is it true of Kirby-Smith and 
Magruder, as has been frequently asserted, that they 
had feathered their nests with cotton speculations. 
Both were compelled to live on borrowed money, and 
a mere pittance was all they procured. This account 
I have from persons whom I know to be men of truth, 
and who were in confidential relations with each of 
them, and they say that neither of them made use of 
their position to procure or retain advantage for 
themselves." 

About the same time a correspondent of the New 
York Times v^xotQ'. "It has been currently rumored 
through the country that Generals Smith and Magru- 
der engaged extensively in cotton speculations and 
made a heap of money which they took with them 
when they fled to Mexico. Now, permit one who 
knows, to state that there is not a word of truth 
in all this — not a word. General Smith had no money 
of his own to speculate on; he neither hired nor 
borrowed any for this purpose — he never shared the 
profits with any one who did speculate — he never 
used or appropriated to his own use one dollar of the 
government funds. In other words he never * specu- 
lated* to the extent of one dime while commanding 
this Department, although to my certain knowledge 
more than one opportunity offered wherein, by simply 
turning his hand, he could have made $ioo,cx)0 or 

249 



General Kirby-Smith 

j^ 1 50, 000 in gold. Independent of his political and 
military character, of which it does not become me to 
speak, I will say that a purer man than General E. 
Kirby-Smith never was intrusted with government 
funds." 

The writer of the above then goes on to narrate 
circumstances attending the surrender of the Depart- 
ment which will be related in the following chapter, 
and answers the charge in much the same manner 
with respect to General Magruder. 
To this testimony from entirely unprejudiced per- 
sons may be added the testimony of a Union paper 
published in Galveston at the time of the reported 
assassination of the General : 

''He was an able commander in the field, devoted 
to the cause he espoused, and essentially a warm- 
hearted, true man. However much we may condemn 
the policy he pursued latterly ; as a commander, we 
have no hesitation in saying that we consider him one 
of the purest and best men, in a moral sense, con- 
nected with the Confederate service, and the reports 
circulated prejudicial to his integrity are without 
foundation." 

The report that the General was negotiating with 
the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico for the transfer 
of his troops, requires no explanation. The sympathy 
of the Confederate States with the Maximilian regime 

250 



General Kirby-Smith 

in Mexico is well known. And as the Confederacy 
fell to pieces, the leaders, especially those of the 
Southwest, naturally sought personal asylums in the 
Mexican Empire. The following extracts from let- 
ters written by the General show the extent of his 
^^negotiations" with the Emperor of Mexico; and 
they are, furthermore, interesting as showing the state 
of feeling in the Confederate Army at the time they 
were written. The letters were written to Mr. Rose, 
who had, sometime before the war, been connected 
with the United States Government in a diplomatic 
capacity, and who now applied to General Kirby- 
Smith for permission to cross the Rio Grande on pri- 
vate business. A letter written in February, 1865, 
conveyed the desired permission and, in general terms 
sent messages of regard to the Mexican government. 
By a letter of the same date, the General wrote : 

"While in the City of Mexico I desire you, on 
some fitting occasion, to make known to His Majesty, 
the Emperor, that in case of unexampled catastrophe 
to our arms and the final overthrow of the government 
which I have the honor to represent as the Military 
Chief of the States West of the Mississsippi River 
— an event I do not now apprehend, but which yet 
may possibly occur in the future — it is my fixed pur- 
pose to leave my native land and seek an asylum in 
Mexico. Bred to the profession of arms, having such 

2CI 



General Kirby-Smith 

education in my profession as the best military- 
schools in the United States offer, with the benefit of 
foreign travel and some experience such as is acquired 
by the command of armies in the field for more than 
two years, it is my desire still to continue in the exer- 
cise of the profession of my choice. Having some 
knowledge of the French and Spanish languages and 
having been on duty at one period on the Mexican 
Frontier, my humble services and such influence as I 
could exert might be rendered available to His Majes- 
ty's Government. I therefore authorize you to tender 
them to him in the possibility of the contingency 
above alluded to. The natural antipathy that would 
exist in the minds of many citizens of the Confederate 
States to those of the North, together with their intel- 
ligence, endurance and daring as soldiers, might, in 
contemplation of possible collision between the 
Imperial Government and the United States of the 
North, render very desirable such a corps of Southern 
soldiers as might be induced by the offer of liberal 
terms to colonize the Empire and thus greatly 
strengthen it. Should you find that this offer and the 
accompanying views are not wholly inappropriate to 
be alluded to, you will please tender my services 
to the Emperor and at the same time assure him 
of my heartfelt wish for the eminent success of his 
reign and the honor, welfare and happiness of his 
people. ' ' 

252 



General Kirby-Smith 

On the 2nd of May, the General wrote again upon 
the subject: 

*' Having entire confidence in your patriotism and 
experience, I have deemed you a suitable person to 
present to His Majesty the Emperor certain views as 
to the future interest of the Confederate States and 
the Empire of Mexico. As the Military Commander 
of this Department, I have no authority to appoint 
diplomatic agents or to initiate negotiations with 
foreign Powers. Yet in the present condition of our 
national affairs, I deem it highly important from a 
military point of view, at least, to place myself in 
communication with the Government of Mexico. 
While, therefore, you will expressly disclaim any 
authority from the Confederate Government to act in 
a diplomatic capacity, you may give assurances that 
there is every probability that our Government will 
be willing to enter into a liberal argeement with the 
authorities of the Mexican Empire based upon the 
principle of mutual protection from their common 
enemy. It cannot be disguised that recent reverses 
of the most serious character have befallen the Con- 
federate arms. Nor can it be denied that there is a 
probability of still further losses to us. It may even 
be that it is the inscrutable design of Him who rules 
the destinies of nations that the day of our ultimate 
redemption should be postponed. If then, final catas- 

^S3 



General Kirby-Smith 

trophe should overwhelm our just cause, the contigu- 
ity of Mexico to us and the future designs of the 
United States must naturally be a subject of the deep- 
est solicitude to His Imperial Majesty. 

'*From the solemn action of their Houses of Con- 
gress, from the public expressions of eminent persons 
standing high in the confidence of both the civil and 
military authorities of the United States, from the 
tone of their public journals, which have hitherto 
rarely failed to foreshadow the policy of that Govern- 
ment, it is plain that further schemes of ambition and 
of territorial aggrandizement are being nursed and 
matured by the United States. It is equally clear, 
judging by the signs of the times, that they look with 
jealous eyes upon the neighboring Empire of Mexico, 
and that they meditate a blow aimed at its destruc- 
tion. Your own information on these points will en- 
able you to expose more fully the ambitious designs of 
our enemy in that quarter. 

"If such be the ultimate purpose of the Federal 
Government, it cannot fail to strike His Imperial 
Highness that in the Confederate States, and more 
especially in the Department adjoining his domin- 
ions, and over which I have the honor to preside as 
Military Chief, there are many trained soldiers inured 
to the hardships of the field and inspired with a 
bitter hatred of the Federals, whose services might 
be tendered to him against the North. There is under 



General Kirby- Smith 

my command an army of 60,000 men. Of these there 
are 9,000 Missourians, good soldiers, who have been 
driven from their homes and would no doubt, upon 
favorable inducements as to immigration and protec- 
tion being held out to them, take service with the 
power so favoring them. There are, besides, no less 
than 10,000 men, daring and gallant spirits from other 
States, in this Department, to whom a state of vas- 
salage to the Federal Government would be intolerable 
and who would gladly rally around any flag that prom- 
ised to lead them to battle against their former foe. 
These men are commanded by veteran officers who have 
repeatedly led them in action and who thoroughly un- 
derstand their character and could control them with- 
out difficulty. If I am not mistaken in my conclusion 
as to the future policy of the United States, the pro- 
priety of an understanding between the Emperor and 
the Confederate States Government for their mutual 
defence will be apparent to His Majesty. The services 
of our troops would be of inestimable value to him. 
You will ascertain, if possible, the views of the 
Emperor on these subjects, and should the occasion 
seem favorable, inform yourself fully as to the probable 
terms and conditions upon which an agreement for 
mutual protection could be determined upon." 

The events recorded in the following chapter not 
only changed General Kirby-Smith's views altogether 

^55 



General Kirby-Smith 

regarding the possibility of establishing such rela- 
tions with the Mexican Empire, but convinced him, 
as we shall see, that such a course would have been 
unwise had it been possible. 



256 



CHAPTER XII 
THE SURRENDER 

The catastrophe which General Kirby-Smith fore- 
saw when writing to Mr. Rose, in February, 1865, 
finally overtook the Confederacy. When the news of 
Lee's surrender reached the headquarters of the Trans- 
Mississippi Department, the following address was 
issued to the army: 

*' Headquarters Trans-Mississippi Department, 

''Shreveport, La., April 21st, 1865. 
''Soldiers of the Trans-Mississippi Army: 

''The crisis of our revolution is at hand. Great 
disasters have overtaken us. The Army of Northern 
Virginia and our Commander-in-Chief are prisoners of 
war. With you rests the hope of our nation, and upon 
your action depends the fate of our people. I appeal 
to you in the name of the cause you have so heroically 
maintained — in the name of your firesides and fami- 
lies so dear to you — in the name of your bleeding 
country whose future is in your hands. Show that 
you are worthy of your position in history. Prove to 
the world that your hearts have not failed in the hour 
of disaster, and that to the last moment you will sus- 
tain the holy cause which has been so gloriously bat- 
tled for by your brethren east of the Mississippi. 

18 257 



General Kirby- Smith 

"You possess the means of long resisting the inva- 
sion ; you have hopes of succor from abroad. Protract 
the struggle and you will surely receive the aid of 
nations who already deeply sympathize with you. 

"Stand by your colors, maintain your discipline. 
The great resources of this Department, its vast 
extent, the numbers, the discipline and efficiency of 
our army, will secure to our country terms that a 
proud people can with honor accept ; and may, under 
the providence of God, be the means of checking the 
triumph of our enemy and securing the final success 
of our cause. 

(Signed) "E. Kirby-Smith, 

General." 

Doubtless this address seemed to many at the time 
as if inspired by desperation rather than by prudent 
generalship. But the region west of the Mississippi 
was looked upon as a fair field on which to make the 
final struggle of the war. There had been, in fact, an 
effort made to cut Texas loose from the Confederacy 
and to establish a "Lone Star Republic," to extend 
from the Gulf to the Pacific. The feeling at that 
time was general in the Department, that not only 
could "Kirby-Smithdom," as it was called, offer re- 
sistence indefinitely, but that it could afford a refuge 
to the defeated leaders of the Confederacy. At the 
North there was a similar feeling, and the newspapers 

258 



General Kirby-Smith 

declared that General Kirby-Smith had the means at 
hand to establish and maintain an empire. 

A public meeting was held at Shreveport on the 
26th of April to consider the situation, and the pur- 
port of all the speeches was — continued resistance. 
Definite plans were laid for sending a commissioner 
to Havana to meet President Davis and his cabinet, 
who were expected to escape thither, and to bring 
them by way of the Rio Grande to the Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department. The capture of the President in 
Georgia on the loth of May, frustrated these plans, 
and the news of one unfortunate event after another 
followed quickly to the region west of the Mississippi. 
By the convention of General Johnston with General 
Sherman, and by the capitulation of General Dick 
Taylor, all of the troops east of the Mississippi were^ 
surrendered and paroled. General Grant's commis- 
sioners arrived in the Red River district with a view 
to arranging for the surrender of the Trans-Missis- 
sippi forces, and, about the middle of May, General 
Kirby-Smith received and declined (as not offering 
sufficient security for life and property and respect 
for constitutional rights), a proposition for the sur- 
render of the troops under his command. He had 
called a meeting of the Trans-Mississippi Governors, 
at Marshall, Texas, for the purpose of opening nego- 
tiations upon a basis to which he could honorably 
subscribe. 

259 



General Kirby-Smith 

On the 17th of May, he received from Governor 
Murrah, of Texas, a telegram saying that in the 
opinion of the Governor, the army should not be sur- 
rendered or disbanded until the terms offered by the 
Federal Government included security for life and 
property and respect for constitutional rights. To 
this the General replied that if he could be supported 
therein by the State authorities and by the troops, he 
did not propose to accept any other terms. The same 
day he received a long dispatch from General Magru- 
der stating that the troops in Texas were deserting 
and that there was no promise of their resisting fur- 
ther. Officers and men were insisting upon dividing 
the property before any settlement was made with the 
Federal authorities. *'For God's sake, act or let me 
act!" were the emphatic words of the dispatch. Gen- 
eral Walker, who was in command of the troops in 
Texas, concurred in this dispatch, writing thereon 
that the troops could not be relied upon to prolong the 
struggle. The contest was hopeless. The cavalry 
remained firm and quiet, but were only waiting for the 
inevitable result — the surrender. 

On the 20th of May, the General, at the urgent 
and repeated request of the several commanders in 
Texas, issued orders for the transfer of the Depart- 
ment headquarters to Houston, and started for that 
place in advance of his staff with a view to repressing 
the discontent which existed among the Texas troops 

260 



General Kirby-Smith 

and of holding them together. He learned en route 
that the infantry of General Walker's Corps had dis- 
banded at Hempstead, Texas. On the 25th, at 
Hempstead, he received a dispatch from General 
Magruder announcing that all the troops in his dis- 
trict had disbanded. The General found that the 
whole region was filled with "mobs of disorderly sol- 
diery, thronging the roads, interrupting travel and 
making life and property exceedingly insecure." He 
called upon General Magruder to explain the causes 
of the disorganization, convened a court of inquiry to 
examine into the causes of the demoralization, and 
published in the papers the following address to the 
troops, urging obedience to the laws and a quiet re- 
turn to the avocations of peace: 

'^Soldiers— The day after I refused the demands of 
the Federal Government for the surrender of this De- 
partment, I left Shreveport for Houston. I ordered 
the Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana troops to fol- 
low. My purpose was to concentrate the entire 
strength of the Department, await negotiations, and 
if possible, secure terms honorable alike to soldier and 
citizen. Failing in this, I intended to struggle to the 
last, and with an army united in purpose, firm in 
resolve and battling for the right, I believed that God 
would yet give us the victory. I reached here to find 
the Texas troops disbanded and hastening to their 

261 



General Kirby-Smith 

homes. They had forsaken their colors and their 
commanders; had abandoned the cause for which we 
were struggling and appropriated the public property 
to their personal use. 

"Soldiers, I am left a commander without an army 
— a General without troops. You have made your 
choice. It was unwise and unpatriotic. But it is 
final. I pray you may not live to regret it. The 
enemy will now possess your country and dictate 
his own laws. You have voluntarily destroyed your 
organization and thrown away all means of resistance. 
Your present duty is plain. Return to your families. 
Resume the occupations of peace. Yield obedience 
to the laws. Labor to restore order. Strive both 
by counsel and example to give security to life and 
property. And may God in His mercy direct you 
aright and heal the wounds of our distracted 
country. ' ' 

At the same time he called upon Governor Murrah 
to employ State troops still under his control to collect 
and protect public property. He was therefore in no 
way responsible for the disbandment of the troops in 
his Department, and he made every effort to remedy 
the evil resulting from the disbandment, and to collect 
abandoned and stolen property. Passing on in the 
discharge of his duty and in his efforts to restore order, 
to Galveston, he learned there, on the ist of June, that 

262 



General Kirby-Smith 

Lieutenant-General Buckner, his chief of staff, had 
proceeded to New Orleans and in the name of the 
General Commanding, had entered into negotiations 
with Major-General Canby for the surrender of the 
troops of the Department, and had, on the 26th of 
May, signed the surrender of the Department. Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith approved of this surrender, with 
the condition that the officers be allowed to leave the 
country. The terms were the same as those accorded 
to Lee, Johnston and Taylor. He signed the articles 
of the surrender on the 2nd of June, on the United 
States Steamer Foi^t Jackson, Captain B. F. Sands, 
commanding the Third Division of the West Gulf 
Squadron, off Galveston Harbor. He was accom- 
panied by General Magruder and by the Federal Brig- 
adier-General E. G. Davis. He issued the necessary 
orders, and so far as lay in his power endeavored to 
insure the proper execution of the terms of the sur- 
render. 

When it was learned by General-Kirby Smith, some 
time subsequently, that General Grant, in his official 
report of the surrender, had charged him with exhib- 
iting bad faith in first disbanding his army and per- 
mitting an indiscriminate plunder of property before 
surrendering. General Kirby-Smith not only dis- 
proved the charge, but filed with the War Depart- 
ment at Washington, documentary evidence of the 
facts as above stated. Major-General P. H. Sheridan, 

263 



General Kirby- Smith 

also made a report to Army Headquarters, dated in 
November, 1866, derogatory to the character of Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith, containing the following statement 
regarding the surrender of the General "through Com- 
missioners sent by him to Major-General Canby:" 

"This surrender was made, but bore upon its face 
double dealing on the part of the rebel commander or 
his agents, as the Texas troops had declined to sur- 
render and had disbanded to their homes, destroying 
magazines and carrying with them arms and ammuni- 
tion from the different arsenals. General Smith pro- 
ceeded to Galveston and from there escaped to Mex- 
ico, in violation of the argeement he had bound him- 
self to observe. 

"This conduct on his part," General Sheridan went 
on to say, "may have arisen from the fact that it 
could not be concealed that his real object in offering 
to surrender was to get security for the Arkansas, 
Louisiana and Missouri troops to return to their 
homes, knowing full well that the Texas troops did 
not intend to surrender and that the most of them had 
already gone to their homes; that while they were 
destroying their arsenals and carrying with them 
their arms, it was their constant boast that they would 
renew the fight at some future day." 

To these statements General S. B. Buckner replied 
in a long letter published in the New York Times of 

264 



1 



General Kirby-Smith 

January lo, 1867; showing, first, that the commis- 
sioners who negotiated the surrender of the Trans- 
Mississippi Department were not sent by General 
Kirby-Smith at all, but acted on their own responsi- 
bility, subject to the ratification of General Kirby- 
Smith; that the commissioners did not know at the 
time that the Texas troops had disbanded ; that Gen- 
eral Sheridan made statements which showed that the 
Federal Government was in possession of facts which 
it did not disclose to the Confederate commissioners 
pending the negotiations, upon which a charge of 
^Mouble dealing" might have been made against the 
Federal Commissioners; that the convention was 
fairly negotiated by both parties with an honest intent 
and purpose of pacifying the country at the earliest 
possible day; that General Kirby-Smith's published 
proclamation should have convinced General Sheri- 
dan, as it did every one else, of his disapproval and 
censure of the acts of disbandment ; that in going to 
Mexico, General Kirby-Smith violated no ''agreement 
he had bound himself to observe;" that there was 
no term of the convention forbidding emigration ; that 
both parties conceded the right of expatriation, and 
General Kirby-Smith expressly reserved to himself, in 
ratifying the convention, the right to leave the coun- 
try; that although alleged that *'it had been contem- 
plated to organize a column of 15,000 Confederates at 
Marshall, Texas, for the invasion of Mexico," General 

265 



General Kirby- Smith 

Kirby-Smith had nothing to do with such a proposed 
expedition, which nevertheless contemplated ''noth- 
ing favorable to the Mexican Empire or hostile to 
the United States Government. ' ' 

Altogether General Buckner fully refuted ''the alle- 
gations made against the fair fame and pure charac- 
ter" of General Kirby-Smith, and gave his testimony 
to the facts of the surrender as they have been sub- 
stantially set forth above. 

The morning following the signing of the articles 
of the surrender. Captain Sands sent General Kirby- 
Smith and General Magruder into the harbor in one 
of the vessels of the squadron, and there the last order 
by General Kirby-Smith as General commanding the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, and probably the last 
military order of the Confederacy, was issued. It 
was a remarkable document, and furnishes a further 
illustration of the character of the illustrious man 
who issued it. Upon leaving Shreveport, the Gen- 
eral had turned over to Aleck, his faithful body ser- 
vant, all of his personal possessions, expecting him to 
keep them. The faithful negro, however, managed 
to transport them more than a thousand miles and 
deliver them to the General's family in Virginia. 
There was a sum of money in gold in the secret service 
fund of the Trans-Mississippi Department, which was 
to have been devoted to the execution of the plans for 
bringing President Davis and his cabinet to the 

0.66 



General Kirby-Smith 

Trans-Mississippi region. Upon this fund General 
Kirby-Smith might have laid his hands without any- 
one to dispute his right to it. The rightful claimant 
to it was a government which had gone out of exis- 
tence. The ethical question as to what should be done 
with it was easily settled by General Kirby-Smith. 
The sum originally set apart for the expenses of the 
mission to Havana was ^5,000. Of that sum $1,700 
were distributed among certain Generals, leaving 
$3,300 at the disposal of General Kirby-Smith. It 
was for this amount that he issued the following order: 

** Galveston Harbor, June 3rd, 1865. 

"Captain— When you reach New Orleans, you will, 
after deducting your necessary traveling expenses, 
turn over to Major-Gen'l Canby, U. S. A., command- 
ing, &c., &c., three thousand three hundred dollars, 
being the secret service funds C. S., remaining in 
your possession. 

"Respectfully, Yr. obt. svt., 

"E. Kirby-Smith, General. 
"Captain Erneste Cucullu, A. D. C." 

The Captain executed his trust most faithfully. 
Accompanied by Dr. Yandell and by another officer, 
not of General Kirby-Smith 's staff, he came to New 
Orleans on the dispatch boat ordered for them from 
the fleet off Galveston Harbor. General Canby readi- 
ly consented to the payment of $150 to Dr. Yandell 

267 



General Kirby-Smith 

and J 120 to the other officer, both being in need of 
assistance. Captain Cucullu retained one dollar for 
hack hire from the steamer to the headquarters of the 
General, and took General Canby's receipt for the 
balance, ^3,029. General Canby's remark upon the 
completion of the transaction was: **That is just like 
Kirby-Smith: always the soul of honor." 



268 



■ / ^ 



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(>'^^^^<Ic,<^»~.<«^ ^^C-*->-*-t- C'cy^yi^IZ...^^ C^i't'-x-iiS^C'C*- 






^ '^k.:^ X^....^..-^ ^.,^^ 




CHAPTER XIII 

EXPATRIATION 

In signing the articles of surrender off Galveston 
Harbor, General Kirby-Smith regarded his act as 
equivalent to giving his parole, though, as we have 
already seen, he expressly reserved to himself the 
right to leave the country. With the news that Gen- 
eral Lee had been indicted for treason, and with the 
further news of President Johnson's amnesty procla- 
mation of May 29th, 1865, which included in the 
famous list of exceptions, **all officers of the rebel 
service who have been educated at the United States 
Military or Naval Academy," he felt that he was at 
liberty to retire from the country and that it was pru- 
dent, if not his duty, "to place the Rio Grande 
between himself and harm until the excited feelings 
of the people at the North had calmed down and the 
Government had adopted some decided policy toward 
the South." Partly through the kindness of friends, 
he secured enough funds to take him out of the 
country and support him for a short time. He left 
Hempstead on the 15th of June, and by traveling day 
and night reached San Antonio without incident. 
He stayed in San Antonio two days and left on the 
2 1 St, in company with General Wilcox, General 
Hawes and several others ; passed safely through the 
hordes of robbers and plundering deserters with 

270 



General Kirby- Smith 

which the road was infested, crossed the Rio Grande 
at Eagle Pass on the 26th, and there was joined by 
Governors Allen and Moore of Louisiana and a party 
of Louisiana refugees. 

*'You should have seen me," wrote the General 
describing his journey, **in my traveling costume, 
mounted on a mule, in shirt sleeves with a silk hand- 
kerchief tied around my neck a la Texas, with revolver 
and shotgun. I carried all my worldly goods on my 
person. I actually possessed nothing but the clothes 
on my back. I had left everything behind except a 
clear conscience and a sense of having done my duty ; 
and with a light purse but a heavy heart I trudged 
along over the desert plains and under the burning 
sun of the Rio Grande. However, it was with a sense 
of great relief that I crossed the Rio Grande and trod 
upon Mexican soil. You know how heavily the bur- 
dens and responsibilities of my position weighed 
upon me. I had never sought them, and while I con- 
scientiously and honestly performed my duty, I 
anxiously looked forward to the hour when I could be 
relieved. Even the darkness and uncertainty of the 
future could not shake my feeling of lightness and joy 
in that I could think of myself as plain Kirby-Smith, 
relieved of all cares and responsible only for my own 
acts. 

"After a most disagreeable journey through the 
desert wastes and cactus plains of Nuevo Leon, we 

271 



General Kirby- Smith 

arrived at Monterey, having successfully eluded the 
Kickapoo Indians and safely passed through the lines 
of the Liberals — or Liberal Robbers, into which they 
have degenerated. Here I found a crowd of some 
hundred or two Confederates, censorious, fault-finding 
and dissatisfied. They disgusted me with their crimi- 
nations and selfishness; and securing a seat in the 
first diligencia for Mexico, in company with General 
Wilcox and Governor Reynolds, I left Monterey on 
the morning of the 5th of July, having had one day's 
rest among the scenes of my youthful exploits and 
glories. Passing over the battlefield of Buena Vista, 
through Saltillo, San Luis Potosi and Queretaro, we 
arrived safely, without being robbed, in the City oft/-' 
Mexico on the i6th, having traveled over twelve hun- 
dred miles since leaving Hempstead. I found Colonel 
Talcott, Major Mordicai, General Stevens and other 
old friends here. Captain Maury is engaged in secur- 
ing colonial privileges for Virginians and other immi- 
grants in Mexico — he thinks with success. The gov- 
ernment is so much afraid of offending the United 
States and is so cautious of giving offense that they 
are careful not to commit themselves upon any point 
until the sense of the Court at Washington can be felt 
upon the subject. 

''Anxious to reach Havana, where I hoped to hear 
from you, I hurried off from the City of Mexico, 
hoping to reach Vera Cruz in time to take the Span- -- 

272 



General Kirby-Smith 

ish steamer Barcelona for Cuba on the 23rd. Gov- 
ernor Reynolds [of Missouri] accompanied me. Wil- 
cox remained in Mexico. At Orizaba we overtook 
Captain Beauregard, who left the city the day before 
us. We reached Vera Cruz in time and embarked 
immediately on the steamer for Havana, where we ar- 
rived on the evening of the 28th. I am staying at the 
Hotel Cubano, where I found Major Minter and wife 
just returning from Europe, ^« r^z//^ for Texas. . . . 
I found Benjamin here. He leaves on Sunday in the 
English steamer for Southampton. Breckinridge 
had left for the same place before my arrival. They 
both passed through many dangers and suffered many 
privations in coasting the shores of Florida. I shall 
spare myself the expense of a journey to Europe until 
I can hear from General Grant and know whether I 
can safely return to the United States. In the mean- 
time I shall either go into the interior of the Island, 
where it is healthier and more economical, or I shall 
take the steamer Barcelona on her return trip, on the 
8th of August, and run over to Yucatan, where I can 
quietly and cheaply await events. I made the acquain- 
tance of several gentlemen from Merida, the capital 
of Yucatan. They are all urging me to come there. 
It is a city of some 40,000 inhabitants, probably the 
cheapest place in the world. It is rather a warm 
climate, but healthy. Vegetation is most luxuriant; 
fruits of all descriptions abundant. They all tell me 

19 273 



General Kirby- Smith 

I can rent a good house in the best part of the city 
and support my family for forty or fifty dollars a 
month. The hire of the best servants is from one to 
three dollars a month. What was once a palace with 
five or six acres of garden and fruit trees, with foun- 
tains, etc., can be rented for twenty or thirty dollars 
a month. The place is secluded, has had but little 
intercourse with the world and the people are primi- 
tive and hospitable ; have not been contaminated by 
English or Americans, are honest and kindhearted. 
Merida is thirty miles from the coast. The American 
and Spanish steamers now touch at Sisal, the port, 
four times a month. It is about forty hours' run from 
Havana or Vera Cruz." 

An old friend whom he met in Havana took the 
General to Matanzas, where he anxiously awaited the 
course of events. He wrote a private letter to Gen- 
eral Grant asking him to write candidly the true state 
of affairs and what he had to expect, and whether he 
would be allowed to return to the United States with- 
out dishonor or humiliation; offering in the event of 
his return to give his parole and take the oath of 
allegiance. His decided preference was to return to 
the United States if it could be done without the 
sacrifice of honor. For he appreciated the difficulty 
of beginning life anew at his age among a foreign 
people and in a strange country. He would only do 

274 



General Kirby- Smith 

so if forced to by the injustice of his own government. 
In his self-imposed exile he kept pretty well informed 
of the trend of political affairs at home. On the 22nd 
of September he wrote: '*I am most anxious to return 
and am determined that I will do so if practicable. I 
see that a change is taking place in the policy of the 
government. The organization of the State govern- 
ments and the end of military rule cannot be long 
delayed. The South is too important an element in 
the political organization not to be conciliated and 
courted by the government. Her coalition with the 
Democratic party of the North is the aim of the 
President and will soon be accomplished with the ulti- 
mate triumph of those principles which we failed to 
establish with the sword and bayonet." 

A few weeks later he wrote in much the same strain, 
in regard to his return: 

"I don't know but that it would be the wisest 
course I could pursue. The policy of the govern- 
ment is evidently conciliatory and is growing more so 
every day. Mr. Davis' situation has been ameliorated,, 
and the papers say Stephens, Clay and the rest are to- 
be released on parole. The most that could be done 
to me would be a temporary imprisonment, and that 

I cannot believe I would be subjected to I did 

not fight for the negro nor for the perpetuation of 
slavery. I took up arms through a sense of duty and 

275 



General Kirby-Smith 

in defense of principles whose complete triumph I 
shall live to see, if not by force of arms, by the 
awakened sense of the people of the United States to 
their true interests and to wisdom. Our people 
should not leave. Instead of seeking asylums abroad, 
their own destinies and the triumph of the principles 
for which they fought, are in their own hands. Let 
them seek by every possible means the re-establish- 
ment of the State governments. In the natural course 
of events the military must then give way to the civil 
rule, and in the coalition of the South with the Dem- 
cratic Party of the North and Northwest, we will hold 
the balance of power and soon secure the establish- 
ment of our rights and the triumph of our principles." 

He naturally grew very restive under the long delay 
of General Grant in replying to his letter. Mrs. Kirby- 
Smith went to Washington to seek for the assurance 
from the President and from General Grant that her 
husband would be allowed to return to the country. 
She performed her mission with success, delivering 
her husband's letters into the hands of those officials 
and leaving them to communicate directly with the 
General. General Grant's letter, dated on the i6th 
of October, was delayed in the postoffice for want of 
full prepayment of postage, and after being returned 
to him was forwarded under date of October 25th. It 
jead as follows : 

276 



General Kirby- Smith 

'*E. Kirby-Smith, 

*'Late General, Southern Army: 
"Your letter dated Havana July 31st, 1865, reached 
me but a day or two since, as I have been absent from 
this city since the middle of July. 

''After consultation with the President of the 
United States, I am of the opinion that you had better 
return to the United States, take the amnesty oath 
and put yourself on the same footing with other 
paroled prisoners. I am authorized to say that you 
will be treated with exactly as if you had surrendered 
in Texas and been there paroled. 
"Yours, &c., 

"U. S. Grant, Lt. Gen." 

After the receipt of this letter, the General took 
steamer for New York early in November and was 
reunited to his family in Lynchburg. He visited 
Washington on his way to Virginia and wrote the fol- 
lowing letter in regard thereto : 

"I went to the War Office to inquire about the fate 
of my letter to General Grant and to see if a parole 
was necessary before venturing upon Brownlow's 
dominions in Tennessee. I was cordially received by 
my old friends there. I saw the Secretary of War, 
who was very polite and complimentary. I met in his 
office General Canby from New Orleans, on whose tele- 
gram Grant based his report. He told me it was a 
mistake ; that he afterwards had undoubted evidence 

277 



General Kirby-Smith 

that I was in no way responsible for the disbandment 
of the troops, and that injustice had been done me. 
In other words, I having left the country, he jumped 
at conclusions and hurriedly reported without facts 
to justify him and without taking the trouble to in- 
vestigate the circumstances 

''I saw Prof. Baird at the Smithsonian. He was 
really glad to see me. He gave me some books. 
Among others was a package marked 'Capt. E. K. 
Smith, U. S. A.,' which he had been keeping for me 
for six years. Singular, that after the loss of my 
library in Florida and Texas, and, by the enemy, I 
should find at the Capital the only books saved." 



278 



CHAPTER XIV 
AT SEWANEE 

Upon his return to the United States, General 
Kirby-Smith took his place among those who had to 
begin life over again in the readjustment of affairs in 
the South. Only those who went through this experi- 
ence at the close of the great Civil War can appre- 
ciate what it meant to men who, like him, had staked 
their all upon the success of the Confederacy and had 
lost. A number of men placed in the same circum- 
stances, entered the ministry of the Episcopal Church. 
As we have seen, this was the life-long ambition of 
General Kirby-Smith, and at times it now seemed that- 
his ambition was likely to be gratified at last. He re- 
ceived a lay-reader's license from the Bishop of Ken- 
tucky, and served in that capacity on many occasions 
in subsequent years, but he was deterred, probably by 
his age, from taking orders in the Church. Neverthe- 
less the Church in the South never had a more devout 
or a more devoted layman than he. 

He had a host of friends, and these did what they 
could to assist him in his efforts to start life anew. 
He was made President of an Accident Insurance 
Company, and then of the Atlantic and Pacific Tele- 
graph Company, with headquarters in the City of 
Louisville, Kentucky. But these companies seemed 
to him too much of the character of the ''wild cat" 

279 



General Kirby-Smith 

schemes devised in great number after the war for the 
purpose of assisting the impoverished gentlemen of 
the South to recuperate their lost fortunes, and he was 
relieved of his connection with them as speedily as 
possible. 

He found educational enterprises more in accord- 
ance with his tastes and with his principles, and like 
General Lee, he felt that the greatest need of the 
South was the means of educating the young men of 
the land. He established a military school at New 
Castle, Kentucky. This school had great success 
until some of its buildings were destroyed by fire, 
and the General found himself without the means to 
replace them. In partnership with General Bushrod 
Johnston, he entered into a contract with the corpora- 
tion holding the charter for the University of Nash- 
ville, by which that institution was revived, and Gen- 
eral Kirby-Smith became its Chancellor from 1870 to 
1875. During those years he was active in church life 
in Nashville; and was a delegate to the Diocesan Con- 
vention in 1872, representing the Church of the Holy 
Trinity. In 1873, Nashville was visited by a scourge 
of cholera. General Kirby-Smith bravely stood at his 
post, renderng such services to the sufferers as was 
possible, and when his rector, the Rev. Mr. Royce, 
succumbed to the dread disease, he read the burial 
service over him. 

By the reorganization of the University of Nash- 

280 



General Kirby-Smith 

ville in 1875, General Kirby-Smith was relieved of the 
Chancellorship. He was thereupon elected Professor 
of Mathematics in the University of the South, at 
Sewanee, Tennessee, and entered upon a life wholly 
in accordance with his tastes. The peculiarities of 
the University of the South have been exploited 
in many publications and need not be repeated here. 
Its conditions at that time were crude, the school 
having been opened in 1868. In its development to 
its present position among educational institutions, 
General Kirby-Smith took an active and important 
part. He found Sewanee, as he expressed it, "the 
best place to live in, the best place to die in." 
He named the house in which he lived 'Towhatan 
Hall," and there he dispensed an all-embracing hos- 
pitality. 

His family was already large when he came to Se- 
wanee. Other children were born to him, and there 
his five boys and six girls grew up. There he grati- 
fied his fondness for dogs and always had at least two 
bearing the names of "Ned" and "Dick," though be- 
longing to successive generations. Another impor- 
tant member of his domestic menage was "George," 
his horse, "with its long swinging gallop," which 
also became in time, with its rider, one of the 
familiar features of the unique University Domain; 
for Sewanee' s woodland situation gave the General 
grand opportunities for the gratification of his fond- 

281 



General Kirby- Smith 

ness for researches in the field of natural science, 
and he tramped or rode all over the Cumberland 
Mountain region, and classified its flora and fauna, 
and studied its conchology and geology. 

He had for his neighbors and associates in the Uni- 
versity many who had taken part in the great civil 
strife. But with General Kirby-Smith the war was 
over, and although he was proud to the last to con- 
sider himself a Floridian, he rejoiced also that he 
was a citizen of the United^tates. When the Con- 
federate Veterans were organized, he was given the 
rank therein of Lieutenant-General. But he was not 
always able to attend the reunions of that organization, 
and participate in person in those great occasions, 
which, for enthusiasm over a * 'cause" confessedly 
''lost" are unequalled in all history. He took per- 
haps the deepest interest in the reunion of the sur- 
vivors of his class at West Point, held in Philadelphia, 
where great men who had worn the blue met great 
men who had worn the gray, and without either charg- 
ing the other with wrong, rejoiced together that the 
country had been reunited. 

When, in the "eighties," the war was being fought 
over again in the popular magazines, the suggestion 
was frequently made that the General tell his story of 
the war. That he might have told an exceedingly 
interesting story from his standpoint, is clearly indi- 
cated in • the preceding pages. But he modestly 

282 



General Kirby-Smith 

refrained, and beyond what we have seen, he contrib- 
uted nothing to the controversies of those times. 
He was, however, made Chairman of the Historical 
Committee of the Confederate Veterans, though his 
life was not spared long enough for him to accomplish 
much in the discharge of his duties in that office. 
Rumor has it that a generous check was offered him 
for a magazine article, but it would have led him into 
a controversy with some of the other generals, and 
he had never a harsh word for any of the actors in the 
war or a word of harsh criticism. So he preferred to 
occupy his thoughts with his duties as Professor of 
Mathematics at the University of the South, with 
roaming over the Mountain, and with papers to be 
read before the Professors' Club at Sewanee — the 
ever famous E. Q. B. which everyone who knows Se- 
wanee will recognize — and the offer was declined. 

His lovable character, which, in the exigencies of 
military life, was observed only by the few who were 
brought into close contact with him, was more widely 
manifested in his life at Sewanee; though even in 
his military career he frequently exemplified the well 
known words: 

The bravest are the tenderest ; 
The loving are the daring. 

His high devotion to principle was called to stand 
further severe tests. 'Towhatan" was burned to the 

283 



General Kirby- Smith 

ground on the eve of New Year's Day, 1891. The 
misfortune brought many letters of condolence to its 
owner, and many touching offers of assistance were 
received, as proof of the wide-spread affection felt for 
the Confederate leader. The latter the General treated 
with appreciation and with a dignity that made those 
who knew him feel the greater respect and admiration 
for him. A few months before his death there came 
to him an offer of an annual stipend which would have 
placed him and his family forever beyond the reach of 
want. It w^as offered in consideration of his allowing 
his name to be used as the guarantor of a lottery 
company. But there was not money enough in the 
country to purchase the name of Kirby-Smith for 
any such purpose, and the returning mail bore to the 
lottery company the General's courteous but emphatic 
declination. 



The end of the distinguished career here narrated 
came in March, 1893. The General attended a re- 
union of the Confederate Veterans in New Orleans 
the early part of that month and was present at the 
funeral of General P. T. Beauregard, whose death left 
him the sole surviving full General of either army in 
the great Civil Strife. Returning from the funeral, 
he had a chill and was ill for several days at the home 
of his cousin, Mrs. Frederick W. Tilton, in New 
Orleans. He felt well enough to leave for Sewanee 

284 



General Kirby- Smith 

on the 15th, and hoped to report for duty at the open- 
ing of the Lent Term of the University. But upon 
his arrival in Sewanee he felt that the end was 
approaching. He took further cold v^hich resulted in 
the congestion of the right lung. His physicians 
recognized from the first that the chances were 
against his recovery, and despite the care and at- 
tention he received, he sank rapidly. Once or 
twice during periods of semi-consciousness his mind 
wandered through past scenes, the old soldier as- 
serted himself and he ordered the "batteries to be 
brought up." On the morning of the 28th of March, 
be became totally unconscious, but not before he 
had shown himself strong in the Christian faith, 
and his last connected utterance was a verse from the 
Twenty-third Psalm: ''Yea, though I walk through 
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil." A little after three in the afternoon of that 
day he "passed over the river to rest in the shade of 
the trees." 

On Good Friday, the 31st of March, his funeral 
was held in the University Chapel, being attended by 
all the University authorities and a large concourse of 
Confederate Veterans. The solemn burial service 
was said by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Quintard, Bishop of 
Tennessee. An eloquent address was made by the 
Rev. Dr. Gailor, then Vice-Chancellor of the Univer- 
sity of the South, afterwards Bishop of Tennessee, 

285 



General Kirby- Smith 

and another address was made on behalf of the Con- 
federate Veterans by Colonel Claiborne. 

The burial was in the Cemetery at Sewanee, where 
a simple monument, bearing with its appropriate 
inscription on one side the symbol of the Confederate 
Army, and surmounted by the symbol of the Catholic 
Church^militant, marks the last resting place of the 
distinguished Christian soldier, the rightly named 
"Chevalier Bayard of the Southern Confederacy." 



286 



Index 



Adams, Gen., 204 

Alachua, Fla., 9 

Aleck, 149-15 1, 176, 266 

Alexander, Gen. E. P., 187 note 

Alexandria, La., 226, 231, 237, 
238 

Alexandria, Va., Boarding 
School II 

Allen, Gov., 271 

Alvarado, 51 

Ampudia, Gen., 39 

Anderson, Maj., 159 

Antigua, 51 

Anton Lizardo, 48 

Arista, Gen., 31, 35-37 

Arkansas, i, 86-88, 122, 226, 
ei seq. 

Army of the Potomac, 193, 201 

Ashby, Gen., 208 

Atchafalaya, 237 
Atlanta, Ga., 239 
Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph 

Company, 279 
Augur, Gen., C. C., 15 
Baile, \02 et seq. 
Baird, Prof., 278 
"Baldy," See William Farrar 

Smith 
Banks, Gen., N. P., 229-246 
Barboursville, Ky., 206 
Bardstovvn, Ky., 216-218 
Barita, i^-j 

Bartow, Gen.. 182, 189, 208 
Beauregard, Capt., 273 
Beauregard, Gen., P. T., 169, 
177, 180, 189, 194, 198, 229, 
285 
Bee, Gen. Bartow, 20, 179, 181, 

189, 197 
Bee, Gen. (Texas) 238 



Benjamin, Judah P., 273, 193 
Berwick Bay, 231 
Big Creek, 220 
Big Hill, Ky., 208 
"Bivouac of the Dead," 115 
"Blucherof Manassas," 186 
Blue Grass Country, 209, 213 
Botanical Observations, 75, 76, 

80, 81, 92, 96, 107, no, III 
Boundary Commission, 88-111 
Bowling Green, Ky., 216 
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 169, 203, 

213-229 
Breckinridge, 273 
Brooklyn Zouaves, 185 
Brown, Maj., 29 
Brownsville, Tex., 80, 228 
Buckner, Gen. S. B., 217, 218, 

263, 264, 266 
Buell, Gen., 203, 208, 213-233 

Buena Vista, 25, 54, 113, 272 

Bull Run, Battle of, 184, et seq. 

Burnside, Gen., 199 

Bustamante, Gen., 35 

Byrne, Gen., 115 

Cadereita, 44 

Caldwell, Lieut, 58 

Camden, Ark., 237, 238 

Camp Dick Robertson, 219,220 

Canby, Gen., 263-269, 277 

Carbajal, 74, 76, yy 

Cash, Gen., 189 

Cave City, Ky., 216 

Cerro Gordo, 25, 55, 56 

Centreville, Va., 194, et seq. 

Chapultepec, 25, 57. 

Chattanooga, 203, 204 

" Chevalier Bayard of the 
Southern Army," 248, 286 

Chihuahua, 107, et seq. 



287 



Index 



Cholera, 67, 280 

Church, Prof., 69 

Churchill, Gen., 206-216, 232- 

238 
Churubusco, 25, 59 
Cincinnati, 215, 221 
Claiborne, Col., 286 
Clay, Major, 173, 182, et seq., 

192-196 
Clay, Senator, 173, 275 
Cleburne, Gen., 206-217 
Cloutierville, 238 
Cole, Archie, 182 
Colorado, Camp, 134-167 
Comanches, ii-j^ et seq., 142, 

et seq. 
Comanche Springs, 104, et seq. 
Comargo, 37, 72, -j-j 
Confederacy, 161, et seq., 220 
Confederate Army, 169, et seq. 
Confederate Veterans, 282-286 
Connecticut, 4, 5 
Contreras, 25, 56 
Cooper, Camp, 120, 131, etseq. 
Cooper, Gen., 229 
Coralitos, 109 
Corinth, Miss., 166 
Corpus Christi, 26-28 
Cosby, Gen., 115 
Cotton, 228, et seq., 242-250 
Covington, Ky., 216 
Culpepper, Va., 188, 190 
Cuba, 273, et seq. 
Cucullu, Capt. Erneste, 267 
Cumberland Ford, 208 
Cumberland Gap, 15, 204-216 
Cumberland Mountains, 282 
Cunningham, Capt., 188-196 
Cunningham Manor, 188, etseq. 
Cynthiana, Ky., 221 
Darksville, Va., 182 
Davis, Jefferson, 2, 1 12, 161-165 

171-173, 181, 201, 206, 207, 

223-229, 240, 241, 259, 266, 

275 



Davis, E. G., 263 

Davis, Gen., 206 

Delafield, Maj., 83 

DeLancey, Bishop, 191 

Democratic Party, 275 

Detroit, 23 

"Dick," 281 

Dogtown, 105 

Doubleday, Gen., 15, 177 

Duncan, Maj., 39 

Eagle Pass, 75, 83, 271 

Early, Gen., 240 

East Tennessee, Department 

of, 20], et seq. 
El Paso, 92, et seq. 
Elzy, Gen., 182-187, 194, 197 
Emory, Maj., 92-112 
E. Q.B.,283 
European Trip, 121-122 
Eustis, Gen., 15 
Evans, Gen., 115, 158, 194 
Evansport, 199 
Field, Gen., 115 
Fifth Infantry, 23, 32, 42 
Florida, 6-1 1, 23, 152, 159, 162, 

163, 193, 278 
Fort Atchison, 126 
Fort Belknap, 89, et seq. 
Fort Brown, 75 

Fort Chadbourn, 116, 144, 147 
Fort Clark, 94, et seq. 
Fort Davis, 105 
Fort DeRussey, 231 
Fort Gibson, 116 
Fort Mason, 117 
Fort Moultrie, 159 
Fort Pickens, 37 
Fort Wilkins, 23 
Fort Smith, 86, 87, 122 
Fort Union, 122 
Frankfort, Ky., 217, 218, 221 
Franklin, Gen. W. B., 15, 235 
Gadsden Treaty, 94 
Gailor, Rt. Rev. Dr., 286 
Galveston Harbor, 270 



288 



Index 



Galveston, 228, 246, 250, 262- 

264 
Game, 90, 122. 135, 138, 148 
Garnet, Maj., 72 
Garrard, Gen., 115 
Garratt, Gen,, 208 
"George," 281 
Georgia, 160-163, 259 
Glasgow, Ky., 215 
Gomez, loi 
Graham, Maj., 27 
Grand Ecore, 234-238 
Granger, Gen. Gordon, 20 
Grant, Gen. U. S., 15, 259, 263, 

273-277 
Grapes of El Paso, 106-107 
Green, Gen. Tom, 231 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Treaty of 

62 
Hallowell, Benjamin, 1 1, 20, 1 13 
Hancock, Gen. W. S., 15 
Hardee, Gen. W. J., 113-116, 

133, 160, et seq. 
Harney, Col., 51 
Harper, Col., 183 
Harper's Ferry, 170, et seq. 
Harrodsburg, Ky., 221 
Havana, 259, 267, 273-277 
Hawes, Gen., 276 
Hawes, Gov., 217, 218 
Hempstead, Tex., 261, 270 
Heth, Gen., 205-208, 213 
Hill, Gen. A. P., 15 
Holmes, Gen., 194, 195, 226 
Hood, Gen. John B., 115 
Hooker, Gen, Joseph, 16 
Howard, Maj., 17, 100, loi, 179 
Huger, Col., 163 
Houston, Tex., 260 
Hunting, 90, no, 119, 138, 144, 

146, et seq. 
Indianola, Tex., 165 
Indians, 8-10, 46, 88, 91, 95, 

100-109,117,120, 12T,, et seq., 

131,137,142,143,145,232,272 



Indian Territory, i, 226, 227 
Insurance Company, 279 
Irrepressible Conflict, 155 
Isleta, 102 
Jackson, "Stonewall," 12, 15, 

172, 183, 194 
Jalapa, 49, 54-56 
Janos, 109, et seq. 
Jefferson Barracks, 63-67, 112 
Jefferson, Pres., 5 
Jefferson, Texas, 233 
Jenifer, Gen. Walter, 20, 113, 

131, i33> i9« 
Jenkins' Ferry, Battle of, 238 
Johnson, Pres., 270, 276, 277 
Johnson, Gen, R. W., 115 
Johnston, Gen. A. S., 113, 114, 

229 
Johnston, Gen. Bushrod, 280 
Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 172, 

i'j6, et seq., 182, et seq., 191, 

194, 198, 229. 244, 248, 259, 

263 
Jones, Rev. Mr., 140 
Keachie, 234 
Kentucky, 209-213 
Kentucky Campaign, 201, et 

seq, 223 
Kershaw, Gen,, 189 
Kirby, Edmund, 6, 26, 41, 51- 

56, 62, 192 
Kirby, Ephraim, 4, 6 
Kirby, Francis Marvin, 6 
Kirby, Reynold Marvin, 6 
Kirby-Smith, Francis Marvin, 

6, 74, et seq., 198 
Kirby-Smith, Mrs., 276 
Kirby-Smith, Ephraim, 7 note, 

10, II, 18, 22, 26, 35, 42, 47, 

55-60, 113 
Kirby-Smith, Joseph Lee, 7 

note. 
" Kirby-Smithdom," 258 
Knoxville, Tenn., 201, 102,206, 

222 



289 



Index 



Laredo, 83 
Las Moras, 94 
LaVega, Gen., 33 
Leadbetter, Gen., 204, 206, 208 
Lee, Fitzhugh, 115, 124, 131, 

133. 137, 138, 198 
Lee, Col., Isaac, 6 
Lee, Gen., Robert E., i, 2, 12, 

17, 112, et seq.^ 151, 171, 172, 

174 note, 229, 248, 257, 263, 

270, 280 
Letcher, Gov., 171, 174 
Lexington, Ky., 206, 207, 211- 

213,215,221 
Liberals, 272 

Limpia Mountains, 100, 10 1 
Liddell, Gen. St. John R., 232 
Linares, 44 

Lincoln, Pres., 154, 156, 164 
Litchfield, Conn., 4 
Little Rock. 87, 230, 257 
Lomax, Gen., 115 
" Lone Star Republic," 258 
Longstreet, 15, 194 
Loring, Gen. W. W., 65, 66 
Louisiana, i, 5, 226, 227, 239, 

242, 261, 264 
Louisville, Ky., 86, 217, 221, 

279 
Love of Nature, 70 
Lovell, Gen. Mansfield, 16 
Lynchburg, Va., 168, et seq,, 

190-193, 277 
Magruder, Gen., 231, 232, 249, 

250, 260-266 
Major, Gen., 115 
Manassas, 190, 192, 197 
Manassas, Battle of, i^^^etseq.^ 

225 
Manassas Gap, 175, 177, 184 
Manchester, Ky., 216 
Mansfield, Gen., 177 
Mansfield, La., 232, 234, 236 
Mansfield, Battle of, 234, 235, 

245 



Marino, Col., 33 
Mark's Mill, Battle of, 238 
Marmaduke, Gen., 238 
Marshall, Tex., 232, 233, 259, 

265 
Marshall, Gen. Humphrey, 207, 

213, 220 
Martinsburg, Va., 181, et seq. 
Marvin, " Deacon " Reynold, 5 
Marvin, Mrs. Reynold, 5 
Marvin, Ruth, 15, 6 
Matamoras, 24-34, 45, 46 
Matanzas, Cuba, 274, 275 
Maury, Capt., 272 
Maur>', Gen., 15 
Maxey, Gen., 232 
Maximillian, 243, 250, et seq. 
Mauson, Gen., 209, 212, 213 
McCarty, Rev. Mr., 57 
McClellan, Gen. Geo., B., 15, 

175, 177, 181, 195-199- 
McCulloch, Gen. Ben., 167 
McDaniel, Col., 190, 192 
McDowell, Gen. Irwin, 16, 175, 

177, 184. 185, 191 
McGown, Gen.. 205 
McKnay, Gen., 212 
McLean, Maj., 176 
Merida, 273, 274 
Mescaleras, loi 
Mesilla, N. M., 109 
Metcalf, Gen., 208 
Mexican Empire, 251, et seq.^ 

266 ^ " \ 

Mexican War, 7 note, 14, 24-61 
Mexico, 3, 24-61, 248, 250, 272, 

et seq. 
Mexico, City of, 25, 34, 56, 60, 

61, 251, ^/ seq., 272 
Minter, Major, 273 
Mississippi, 5, 158 
Missouri, 227, 235, 261 
Mitchell, Gen., 204 
Mixcoac, 58 
Monette's Ferry, 238 



290 



Index 



Molino del Rey, 25, 27, 57-59, 

166 
Monroe, Pres., 6 
Monterey, 25, 37-42, 44, 272 
Montgomery, Ala., 164-166, 

168 
Moore, Gov., 271 
Mordicai, Maj., 272 
Morelos, 44 
Morgan, Capt., 196 
Morgan, Gen. G. W., 15, 204, 

206, et seq.^ 214, 216, 225 
Morgan, Gen. John H., 203, 

205, 207, 213 
Mount Zion, Combat of, 210 
Mouton, Gen., 234-236 
Mumfordsville, Ky., 215 
Murrah, Gov., 260, 262 
Nashville, Tenn., 280 
Nashville, University of, 280, 

281 
Natchitoches, 232, 233 
"Ned," 281 
" Nell," 139 
Nelson, Gen., 211, 212 
Nessentvmga (Nescatunga) 

124, et seq. 
Newcastle, Ky., 180 
New Orleans, 230, 240,245,263, 

284, 285 
New Madrid, 87 
New Mansville, Fla., 9, 10 
Newton, Gen. John, 15 
Nogales. no 
Nueces, 76 

Nuevo Leon, 43, 45, 271 
Oaks, Gen., 115 
O'Hara, Theodore, 115 
Orizaba. 54, 273 
Page, Capt. John. 31 
Palmer, Gen. Innis, 115 
Palo Alto, 24, 29-31, 35, 57 
Paris, Ky., 221 
Parsons, Gen., 232, 235, 238 
Passmore, Rev. Mr., 84 



Patterson, Gen., 43, 48, 51, 

175-179, 182 
Paul, Capt., 50 
Pendleton, Capt. and Rev. 

Wm. N., 177 
Perote, 54 

Perryville, Battle of, 219, 221 
Pickens, Gov., 158 
Pickett, Gen., 15 
Piedad, 58 
Piedmont, 184, 189 
Pierce, Pres., 114 
Plan del Rio, 56 
Pleasant Hill, 235, 236 
Pleasant Hill, Battle of, 240 
Pleasanton, Gen., 55 
Plympton, Col., 55 
Point Isabel, 29, 36 
Polignac, Gen., 236, 237 
Polk, Leonidas, Gen. and 

Bishop. 222 
Polk, Pres., 24 
Pope, Gen,, 15 

Porter, Gen. Fitz John, 20, 179 
Porter, Giles, 120 
Porter, Maj., 83 
Porter, Admiral, 237 
Pound Gap, 214, 220 
Powhatan Hall, 281, 284 
Prairie d'Ane, 233, 237 
Price, Gen. Stirling, 232, 233^ 

242 
Prieto, Don Jesus, 45 
Pound Gap, 214, 220 
Puente Nacional, 51 
Queretaro, 272 
Quintard, Bishop, 3, 12 note^ 

221, 222, 286 
Quitman, Gen., 43, 44 
Radziminski, Camp, 122, 130. 

et seq. 
Rains, Gen., 208 
Ramirez, Col., 59 
Red River, 229-238, 244, 259 
Resaca de la Palma, 25, 29-35. 



291 



Index 



Reynolds, Gen., 208 
Reynolds, Gov., 272, 273 
Rhett, Gen. T. G., 20 
Richmond, Ky., 207-215 
Richmond, Battle of, 210-213, 

220-224 
Richmond, Va., 192-194, 220, 

225, 239 
Ricketts' Battery, 192 
Ringgold Barracks, 72, 74-80, 

83, 120 
Ringgold, Maj., 31 
Rio Grande, 74, 75, 270, 271 
Rio Grande City, 76 
Rose, Mr., 251-257 
Rosecrans, Gen., 15 
Royall, Lieut., 128-129 
Royce, Rev. Mr., 280 
Russell, Gen. D. A., 20 
Saltillo, 43, 272 
Salvisa, Ky., 218 
San Antonio, Mexico, 25 
San Antonio, Tex., 35, 86-93, 

139, et seq., 164, 270 
Sands, Capt. B. F., 263, 266 
San Elizario, 102, et seq, 
San Juan de Ulua, 25, 50, 54 
San Luis Potosi,.43, 82, 272 
Santa Anna, 54, 82, 84. 
Santa Barbara, 43 
Satterlee, Dr., 58 
Scott, Gen., C. S. A., 206-213 
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 18, 25,26, 

43, 46, 51, 114, 170, 175 
Secret Service Fund, 266-268 
Seventh Infantry, 43 
Secession, 149-159 
Selden, Miss Cassie, 192 
Selden, Samuel S., 192 
Second Calvary, 112, et seq., 

157, 179 
"Seminole," 14 
Seminole War, 8 
Seventh Regiment, N. Y. V., 

172 



" Sewardites," 154 
Sewanee, Tenn., 279, et seq. 
Sheridan, Gen. P. H., 263-265 
Sherman, Gen. W. T., 237, 239, 

240, 259 
Shreveport, 226, 230, 233, 237, 

257, 259, 261, 262 
Sill, Gen., 218 
Simmons, Dr., 57, 58 
Simsport, 231 
Sisal, 274 
Slavery, 149, 275 
Smith, Gen. A. J., 231, 237, 239 
Smith, Edward, 192 
Smith, Gen. Charles Ferguson, 

56 note. 
Smith, Gen. Gustavus W., 15, 

15, 194, 198 
Smith, Gen. W. D., 15 
Smith, Gen. Preston, 210, 212 
Smith, Gen. William Farrar 

(Baldy), 17, 20, 96, 97, loi 
Smith, Capt. Ephraim Kirby, 

7 note, ID, II, 18, 22, 26, 35, 

42, 47, 55-60, 113 
Smith, Mrs. Frances Kirby, 74, 

1 58, et seq. 
Smith, Elnathan, 6 
Smith, Judge Joseph, 6, 7-12, 

63, 74, 149 
Smith, Joseph Lee Kirby, 166 
Smithsonian Institution, 278 
South Carolina, 159, 161, 162 
Southern Confederacy, 162, 164 
Socorro, 102 

States' Rights, 146, 173, 175 
St. Augustine, Fla., 6-9, 23, 68, 

72, 74, 85, 168, 193 
Steele, Gen., 232-237, 240 
Stephens, Vice-Pres. A. H., 275 
Stevens, Gen., 272 
Stevenson, Gen. 204-208, 216, 

218 
Stewart, Gen. A. P., 15, 16, 183 
St. Louis, Mo., 64-67 



292 



Index 



Stone, Gen. Charles P., 20 
Stoneman, Gen., 55, 115 
Sullivan, Mrs., 198 
Sumner, Col., 176 
"Sumnerites," 154 
Syracuse, N. Y., 68, 86 
Talcott, Col., 272 
Tamaulipas, 43, 45 
Tampico, 45, 46 
Tappan, Gen., 235 
Taylor, Gen. Dick, 231-245, 

259, 263 
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, 24-46, 

54, no, 197, 198, 208 
Tennessee, 2, 3, 277 
Texas, i, 24, 72, 73, 79, 113- 

121, 226-247, 260, 264, 278 
Thomas, Gen. G. H., 113, 114, 

ii9>i3^i32, 137, 151, 177,179 
Tilton, Mrs. F. W., 285 
" Times,"' N. Y., 249, 264, et seq. 
Toombs, Gen., 19:1, 196 
Trans-Mississippi Department 

I, 2, 22^, et seq. 
Trimble, Gen., 197 
Tula, 43 
Twiggs, Gen., 33, 38,48,51,63, 

«Ugly,"i38, 147, 14S 
University of the South, 2, 281, 

285, 286 
University of Nashville, 280, 

281 
Urea, Gen., 43 
Van Dorn, Gen. Earl, 15, 115, 

123, 126-130, 158, 168, 194, 

198, 199 
Vera Cruz, 25, 43-54, 272-274 
Vicksburg, 226, 230, 237, 239 
Victoria, 42-47 



Vinton, Capt., 50, 51 
Virginia, id's, et seq. 277 
Walker, Capt., 159 
Walker, Gen., 194, 235, 238, 260, 

26 
Walker, Sec'y. of War, 168 
Waller, Lieut., 31 
War of the Revolution, 4 
War of 1812, 6 
Washington, D. C, 277, 278 
Webster, Col., 1 1, 14, 16, 37, 84, 

113 
Webster, Mrs. Frances, 16, 83 
West Point, 11, 14-23, 25,62- 

74, 113, 282 
Wharton, Gen., 237 
Wheat's Farm, 211 
" Whig," Richmond, Va., 239- 

241 
Whiting, Henry, 19,96,97, loi, 

176-182 
Wichita Expedition, 130, et seq 
Wigfall, Gen., 194 
Wilcox, Gen., 270, 272 
Wilcoxsen House, 197, et seq. 
Wild-Cat Coacoochee, 8 
Wild Rose, Pass, 100, loi, 105 
Wilmington, N. C, 228 
Winchester, Va., 178, et seq. 
183, 184 

Withers, Gen., 218 
Wood, Bud, 113 
Wood, Gen. T. J., 20 
Worth, Gen., 38, 40, 41, 47, 48 
"World," New York, 248 
Wright, Gen. Horatio, 9, 16 
Yandell, Dr., 26S, 269 
Yellow Fever, 84, 85 
Yucatan, 273 



293 






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